Money's Worth


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When children use coins to play games, it may help them use coins in real life situations. What you'll need Coins Coupons What to do 1. Coin clues. Ask your child to gather some change in his or her hand without showing what it is. Start with amounts of 25 cents or less. Ask your child to tell you how much money and how many coins there are. Guess which coins are being held. For example, "I have 17 cents and 4 coins. What coins do I have?" 2. Clip and save. Cut out coupons and tell how much money is saved with coins. For example, if you save 20 cents on detergent, show how this amount could be made up using different coins. Ask your child what could be purchased using the savings from the coupon. Sweets? A pencil? How much money could be saved with 3, 4, or 5 coupons? How could that money be counted out in coins? What could be purchased with that savings? A notebook? A magazine? How much money could be saved with coupons for a week's worth of groceries? How would that money be counted out? What could be purchased with that savings? A book? A movie ticket? Counting money involves thinking in patterns or groups of amounts: 1s, 5s, 10s, 25s. Start these activities by having your child first separate the coins or coupons by types: all the pennies together, all the nickels, all the dimes, all the quarters; the coupons for cereals, the coupons for cake mixes, the coupons for soap, etc.