Using fingers or other body parts to count may be the oldest and most widespread number representation system in the world. Gestures can be a powerful bridge between non-symbolic quantities and the symbolic words we use as labels. In this line of work I explore i) the contexts in which parents and children use number gestures, ii) if gestures draw children’s attention to numerical information better than number words alone, and iii) if increasing the gestural input children receive boosts their cardinal number knowledge.