Education Tools: How to Make and Use Math Manipulatives for Time and Money Lessons

The best tool for teaching time, of course, is a clock. Old clocks, even if they don't run anymore on their own, make a great manipulative. If you don't have one lying around, check at garage sales or thrift shops. You'll want to find one with the numbers written on it clearly, or an open-face clock that you can write numbers on with a marker. As long as your child is able to move the hands with ease, you can use it to teach her how to tell time.

If you can't find an old clock, you can make a model from a paper or plastic plate. Punch a hole in the center of the plate and attach two clock hands (can be simple strips of cardboard, one longer than the other) with a brass paper fastener. Write the numbers 1 through 12 around the edges. Between each number, make four dots, to help with counting minutes or seconds.

Practice time telling by asking the child questions such as, "what time do we have lunch?" or "what time is your favorite TV show?" Allow the child to place the hands of the clock pointing at the correct numbers. Then ask a child to calculate ahead by asking questions such as, "if it takes us 45 minutes to eat lunch, what time will it be when we are finished?" or "if your show is an hour long, what time will it end?"

Teaching Money with Manipulatives:

Nothing is a more effective tool for teaching money than real money. Cheap plastic money of poor quality doesn't resemble real money enough for the child to carry over their understanding, so they'll just have to be taught again with real money any way. Good quality fake money is so expensive that you might as well just use the real thing. At least that way, when you are done with the lessons, you still have your money to put back into your wallet, instead of a package of toy money on the shelf waiting for your next garage sale.

Break a $5 bill at the bank or grocery store. Ask for a rolls of pennies (50), ten nickles, ten dimes, eight quarters, and two fifty-cent pieces. Use paper money from board games you might already have lying to work with paper denominations, let your child draw paper money.

A fun way to teach money to children is to incorporate it into imaginative play. Let your child pretend to run a store, or a bank, and play the part of the shopper. Have the child "stock" the store with some toys or household items, then "purchase" them and let the child count out change. Switch places so that you are the merchant and your child is the customer. This is a fun game that will help children to quickly learn to count and exchange money.