How to Teach Kids to Count Money

Every day we have to make decisions that require knowing relative money values. And any entry-level food service or retail job will ask employees to count money and make change, usually very quickly and on-the-spot. To help prepare kids for the future, parents should learn how to teach kids to count money.

When children are very small (preschool), they can be taught what each coin looks like and how to skip-count by ones, fives, and tens. By the first-grade level U.S. kids should know how to recognize each coin and the most common bills in American currency. Following are a few activities to teach kids about money using charts and games.

Matching Game

Create pairs of cards with single coins. Put a picture of the coin on one card (or tape coins to the cards), and write the coin’s value on a corresponding card. Shuffle the cards and then ask kids to pair up matching cards to practice the values. To make the game more challenging, combine multiple coins on a single card so children can practice adding up coin values.

Hundreds Chart

Make a chart with 100 squares and label each square sequentially with the numbers 1-100. Give children a handful of various coins and have them place each coin on the chart square that represents the total value. Have them start with the highest-value coin and work down.

So, for example, if you gave the child a quarter, two dimes, a nickel, and three pennies, he would start with the quarter and place it on the 25 square. Next she would place the dime on the 35 square, since the total of the two coins equals 35 cents. The next dime would go on the 45 square, the nickel on the 50 square, and so on.

Partner Match Game

This is a good activity for a group of kids. Give each child a baggie containing several coins. Each bag has a corresponding bag with the exact same amount, but in a different combination of coins. Have each child locate the partner with the matching coin total.