There’s a million ways to learn about money, and every child should know how to recognize different coins, add coins to find the total, and use them correctly in real world situations. To get started introducing your child to money, set out a few coins and describe the name of each one. Then talk about how much each coin is worth. Use that language over and over whenever you are in buying situations where coins are involved, such as at the grocery store, the gas station, or when purchasing an item from a machine. Encourage your child to count the correct set of coins to make a purchase. Encourage your child to practice with money with free math games like Coin Counting.
Coin Toss – Encourage learning all season long with this fun game of coin toss. Grab a handful of coins and toss them into the swimming pool. Have a few children race to find all the coins then add them up. Who’s got the most money? Did he or she calculate the total correctly? Toss them in the pool and play again! For variation, throw the coins around a room, blindfold the children, and let them race to find the coins.
Coin Hunt – For younger children, create a special coin hunt in one room of your house. While your child is not looking, hide a few coins in different places, like under items, on top of items, or anywhere around the room. Let your child look for the coins. If he or she is stuck, use key language (e.g., next to, under, below, inside) to help your child discover them. Then count them up to find the total. For a variation, time your child and see if he or she can beat the time in the next round.
Daily Budget – For older children, create your own money word problems or challenges. If one bar of soap costs $1.00 and you will use 3 bars of soap each month, how much will you end up spending in one year? If one month of cable television costs $59.00, how much will we have spent by the time you turn 14?
Money Race – Keep learning interactive and engaging with this physical activity. Have two children start at one end of the yard with a few coins in their hands. Ask them to run to the other end of the yard, collect a set of coins, and return to start. They should quickly add up coins and the first one to calculate his or her total correctly wins. Mix up the coins and run again!
Try more online math games for free! Encourage your child to practice important math concepts like telling time, adding, subtracting, and more. Watch instructional videos for more information, too. Your child will love a twist on traditional arcade games like Math Pacman. Don’t forget to try some word games for kids – encourage your child to build language skills so he or she can use appropriate conversations in real world experiences. Just remember to keep learning engaging and fun!