Hands-On Activities that Teach Children About Money

Children love to learn about money, though their understanding is quite abstract. To them, if you want to pay for something, you simply swipe a card through the reader and go on your merry way. These simple hands-on activities for preschool and kindergarten will help then learn to identify money and their values. They also more concretely teach the concept of cold, hard cash.

Matching

Fill a small basket with two of each kind of coin: penny, nickel, dime, quarter, and half dollar. First show the children how to match the coins. Then, name them. You can also do this with cards of realistic pictures of coins.

Sorting

This activity is similar to matching, except there are at least four of each coin. Sort them into appropriate columns, and then name them. Later, do it with cards.

Object-to-Picture Matching

Have a basket or two of each coin. Also, have a set of card depicting the front of each coin, and a set of cards depicting the back of each coin. First, lay out the cards. Match one coin to each card. Simplify the activity by dividing it into two: one of just the fronts and one of just the backs. Add difficulty by sorting a bunch of coins according to the cards.

Front-to-Back Matching

Have a set of cards depicting the fronts of coins, and one depicting the backs of the coins. Match the fronts and backs.

Three Part-Matching or Nomenclature

Make a set of cards with a picture of the front of a coin, with its name printed underneath. Create an identical set, only this time cut apart the picture and word. For younger children, lay out the control cards first. Next, match the picture cards. Finally, match the name cards. For older children, have them try to label the picture cards with the word cards, first. Then, they can check themselves with the control cards.

Make another set of cards using pictures of the backs of cards. Make both sets with the coin values, instead of the coin names. Or make a set of four-part matching using both the names and the values. Find a set with real photographs on montessorimaterials.org. Fine drawings that are more abstract on ABCTeach.

Bingo

Practice money recognition with Bingo. Pre-purchase one or create your own. Use stamps, stickers, photos, or clip art to fill in a grid of squares. The smallest grid should be 3 x 3; a large one is 5 x 5. Include both fronts and backs of coins. Call out coins by drawing cards, using a spinner, rolling a coin cube, or randomly drawing coins out of a drawstring bag.

Dominoes

Make a set of double-six dominoes, suing coin stamps, clip art, or stickers. Use both fronts and backs of coins. Decide if the child must match only fronts to fronts and back to backs, or if it is okay to match coins regardless of the side showing. For added difficulty, have multiple coins on each end.

Coin Stamps

Put out a set of coin stamps. Have the children stamp a coin under the corresponding word. Have them stamp fronts and backs of coins to match and label.

Tips

When teaching money, it is best to use real coins when possible. As denominations get higher, though, you may be hesitant to part with that much cash and run a greater risk of it disappearing. School supply stores and the teacher section of office supply stores sell very realistic plastic versions of coins. These are better than those you find at the dollar stores, which are often distorted or have "copy" stamped across them. Play money and fake money, like you find in board games, should not be used with young children, because it gives them a distorted view of money.

Children learn best through concrete, realistic means. Use these activities to teach them how to identify money names and values.