The nation’s production of wild blueberries slipped a bit last year as some growers contended with drought

'Desperate Housewives' star Eva Longoria believes a person's beauty begins from the inside out.

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Welcome to the final stretch of Virgo Season. This is likely to be the most illuminating and productive week we’ve experienced so far this month, and that’s because Mercury, the Planet of Communication (and the ruler of Virgo), has recently ended its three-week retrograde, in the sign of Virgo.

Board games like Monopoly and Snakes and Ladders – which are based on numbers – could make young children better at maths, new research suggests. The games are already known to enhance learning and development, including reading and literacy. But the new study suggests that for three to nine-year-olds, the format of number-based board games helps to improve counting, addition, and the ability to recognise if a number is higher or lower than another. Using board games can be considered a strategy with potential effects on basic and complex maths skills Dr Jaime Balladares, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile Researchers say children benefit from programmes – or interventions – where they play board games a few times a week supervised by a teacher or another trained adult. Lead author Dr Jaime Balladares, from Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, in Santiago, Chile, said: “Board games enhance mathematical abilities for young children. “Using board games can be considered a strategy with potential effects on basic and complex maths skills. “Board games can easily be adapted to include learning objectives related to mathematical skills or other domains.” The new study aimed to compile the available evidence on the effects of board games on children, and the researchers set out to investigate the scale of the effects of physical board games in promoting learning in young children. The findings are based on a review of 19 studies published from 2000 onwards involving children aged from three to nine years. All except one study focused on the relationship between board games and mathematical skills. All of the children in the studies received special board game sessions, which took place on average twice a week for 20 minutes over one-and-a-half months. The sessions were led by adults including teachers, therapists, and parents. In some of the 19 studies, children were grouped into either the number board game or to a board game that did not focus on numeracy skills. The children’s maths skills were assessed before and after the intervention sessions that were designed to encourage skills such as counting out loud. Success was rated according to four categories including basic numeric competency such as the ability to name numbers, and basic number comprehension. The other categories were deepened number comprehension – where a child can accurately add and subtract – and interest in mathematics. The findings, published in the journal Early Years, suggest that maths skills improved significantly after the sessions among children for more than half (52%) of the tasks looked at. In nearly a third (32%) of cases, children in the intervention groups gained better results than those who did not play the board games. Dr Balladares concluded: “Future studies should be designed to explore the effects that these games could have on other cognitive and developmental skills. “An interesting space for the development of intervention and assessment of board games should open up in the next few years, given the complexity of games and the need to design more and better games for educational purposes.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live 6 of the best new running shoes for summer Skin cancer cases reach record high – how to spot the signs Why do I get sick when I go on holiday?

The royal family does bring tourism to the UK. But if the royal family were to disappear, would the UK's tourism industry suddenly implode?

The fragrance of the summer — that iconic one we’ve all been waiting for — is officially here. Ceremonia, the clean Latine hair care brand, has officially launched its first perfume. Featuring the same signature scent as all its products, Perfume de la Tierra is a woodsy, fresh, and slightly sweet scent that takes you on a “transportive scent experience.” And that it does. The fragrance is nostalgic, reminding us of the array of rainforests from all over Latin America and the Caribbean. It’s rich in culture, versatile, and absolutely perfect as a signature scent.

The official trailer for Invincible Season 2 is here, and the adult superhero series is

In her memoir 'My Love Story', Tina Turner reminisced about a period of feeling lost until Mick Jagger and David Bowie took her under their wing

Gold coins dating back more than 2,000 years have been found by metal detectorists in Wales, making them the first hoard of Iron Age gold coins to have been discovered in the country.

South Korea’s government has formally endorsed the safety of Japanese plans to release treated wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea as it tries to calm people’s fears about food contamination

The Opera One web browser is now available to download complete with an integrated AI