Subtracting Money: Real-Life Experiences

My husband and I have worked opposite work schedules for years so one of us would be at home at all times to care for the children. While this has been a blessing, it was not always easy. Errands were always a bit challenging when alone, doing the shopping, with three children (that were not quite 4 years apart). I had to set some boundaries.

One of the things that worked well is that I designated some errands as "getting only needed items" errands. When we were on these errands, the kids knew that we were not going to look at toys/candy, etc. However, from time-to-time I would designate an errand as a "toy-looking" errand. This really helped the stress level and allowed me to totally relax and allow the kids to leisurely browse the toys without rushing them. During this time, we do not buy toys, but the children are allowed to write things on a "wish list" for their birthdays, Christmas, etc.

While I was at the bank this weekend (we have a branch inside our grocery store and it is sooo nice to be able to take care of business on Saturday/Sunday!), I spotted these debit card recording booklets. They were so cute - I asked the guy if I could have a few.

We took these booklets and created a different twist to our "toy-looking" day. I told the older two children to pretend they had $100.00 saved in their account. Then, they were to "shop" for items and spend the money. They had to record the date/description and subtract the amount from their balance.We also rounded to the nearest quarter to make the subtraction simpler (and it also helped us practice our rounding skills!)

They had so much fun "fake-shopping." I also liked the fact that it doubled as an introductory teaching experience on how to balance your checkbook. I allowed them to check their work in the concession area after we were done as we enjoyed an Icee (my favorite drink of all time!)

Early Money Practice

 Little Angel loves to work with money when I pull out this work! The basket contains small toys around the house with price tags. I have the amount that it "costs" on one side and a control picture on the back to show what coins should be used to "purchase the item."

 It also contains exact coins needed to purchase all items in the basket.

She pulls out the "items for sale" out of the basket. She looks at the tag and then chooses which coins to use to "buy" the toy.

I print the "price" of the item on one side of the tag and placed pictures of the coins that Little Angel should have chosen on the other side of the tag as a "control."

I created two levels: An easy level (green tags) where Little Angel only has to choose values 1cent to 4cents, or choose whether the item cost a nickel, dime, or quarter.

The more advanced "orange tags" require Little Angel to combine simple coin combinations (i.e. 11 cents, 6 cents, 14 cents ... nothing tricky such as combining two dimes, a dime and nickel, etc.) This will be presented at a later time.

In the past, I have created my control pictures by finding pictures of coins on the internet and reducing them to a smaller size to fit on the tag. However, I came across these stickers at the Dollar Tree and the pictures of the coins were just the right size for this activity. The coin combination pictures fit perfectly on the back of the tags.... only $1 per sticker pack.... which saves on my printer ink!

The Dollar Tree has become my new best friend! I haven't decided how I am going to use the bills yet, my palms are itching to use them, but my brain isn't quite ready to come up with the ideas!

Money Menu Fun

I love to have fun and play with my children. I strive to make most learning experiences fun. We were sitting at  a local restaurant checking over the bill (I was estimating in my head) when I thought of this activity. 

I record what is being served on a "menu" I created from a plain white piece of paper (with Menu written on the top) slid into a sheet protector. How I love those sheet protectors! Some days, I record the monetary amounts with the cent sign. Other days, I record it in the 0.10 format.

After we eat, the kids write down what they had for dinner on a restaurant receipt book I picked up at an office supply store. If they have seconds, they record the items twice.

I set out a "change bowl" in the center of the table for this activity. Little Angel pulls out the correct coins and tells me what coin will pay for each items, along with the name of the coin.

My slightly older children pull out the correct coins and add the coins together to see what their total amount will be. They have such fun at playing "restaurant."