Four Fun Activities to Reinforce Money Concepts with Kindergartners

Welcome to Finance Friday and Four Fun Activities to Reinforce Money Concepts with Kindergartners!

Photo Credit

Sending your child off to kindergarten means they’re growing up and becoming more independent. It’s an exciting time and the beginning of a wonderful journey where they’ll be introduced to new concepts and experiences. A great way to stay connected with what happens at school is to be on the lookout for ways to reinforce at home the learning that goes on in the classroom. A great place to start is with money.

Here are four fun activities to do with your child to help her learn the names and values of coins:

1. Sort and Classify

Using a pile of coins, ask your child how she can sort them into different groups. You may start her off by saying, “Let’s put all the ones with a smooth edge in this group. These are called nickels and they’re worth five cents each.” Don’t worry that she doesn’t quite understand the ‘nickels’ and ‘five cents each’ part. Over time, and with repeated exposure, the names and values will begin to take on more meaning.

Continue to sort into different groups while discussing the attributes (characteristics) of each coin. Ex: the dime is the smallest, the quarter has the American Bald Eagle on the reverse, etc.

Take it to the Next Level: Count how many coins are in each group. Ask her which group has the most number of coins, which has the least.

Try the Challenge: Skip counting. Line up all the nickels then skip count by fives: 5, 10, 15, 20, etc. Do the same with the dimes.

2. Sock Search

Review the attributes of a penny, nickel, dime, and quarter. Then “hide” one of each in an old sock. Have your child reach in and, using touch only, see if he can pull out the…penny…dime…etc. Be sure to put the coin back in the sock before asking him to pull out the next one. If you like, in the beginning you can have a sample of each coin visible with the name written next to it until he becomes more familiar with the different coins. This also helps him practice reading each name.

Take it to the Next Level: Do the same, but this time ask him to pull out the coin that has a value of five cents, etc.

3. Money Dice

The next time you play a board game with your kindergartner that uses a die, replace it with your own money cube, instead. Click here to print a copy of the template and make your cube. When you play: If your child rolls a ‘nickel’ she moves five spaces, etc.

Try this Challenge: Use two money dice and have your child add the two values to determine how many spaces to move. Ex: one dime + one penny = eleven spaces

4. Bingo

Create a 3 x 3 grid for each player and fill each of the nine spaces with a coin, keeping in mind that kindergartners love to fill in their own spaces. On a separate piece of paper write the words, four times each: penny, nickel, dime, quarter. Cut these out and place in a non-see through container.

To play, draw a coin name from the container. Each player places a lima bean or any other small object on the coin on their grid that matches the name. If there is more than one coin
that matches, choose which one to place the bean on. Keep playing until someone gets three-in-a-row.

Take it to the Next Level: Create a 4 x 4 grid or play blackout where all spaces get covered in order to win.

Try this Challenge: Have your child pull out and read the names of the coins.

Karyn Hodgens studied child development at Chico State University before receiving her master’s degree in education with a specialization in elementary mathematics. With a multiple-subjects teaching credential, for over two decades, her passion has been designing real-world lessons that resonate with kids and their interests. In 2006, Hodgens co-founded Kidnexions (kid·neck·shuns), a kids’ educational company with the mission to help kids make connections between what they are learning and their every day lives. In partnership with her husband, John, she created KidsSave, a kids’ savings and money management software program. She is the author of Raised for Richness, a “how to” to help kids master financial literacy which received the 2010 National Parenting Publications Gold Award in the parenting resources category. Her latest project is a series of Family Math Night kits which will be available Spring/Summer 2011. Contact Karyn at: karyn@kidnexions.com