Dear friends,
By no means do I believe that my child needs to be able to use and count money by a tiny age, but I noticed recently how much she enjoyed coins and a piggy bank and decided to find a way to begin teaching her about money. What better way to begin than with playing "Grocery Store!" It was not a fancy set up, but I created a sheet of coins with the money amount and name so that I could label the areas she could buy from. I've included the coin sheet that I made (at the bottom of this post) so that you can print it too if you like to use in your toddler's Grocery Store. It's a sheet with several of the coins so that you can cut them out and use some of them as the "money" they use if you don't want them using real coins right now.
I set up a simple area with a few foods and goods behind the labeled coin amount. That way she could begin to not only recognize the images of the coins to match with real ones, but she could see the name (as a sight word) and the amount. I put out a bag for her groceries, a little sign and also a pouch for all of her coins. I used real money for this because I wanted her to be able to match properly.
Once she decided what she wanted to buy, I would ask her how much it cost. We reviewed the coins and she caught on very quickly. Soon she was telling me it cost a quarter, or a nickel and so on. She then had to go to her pouch and find the right coin to make her purchase...only then could she put the item in her grocery bag.
She wanted to do this over and over and it was even the first thing she began doing this morning before she wanted to eat breakfast.
This is a PERFECT way to introduce what coins are, their names and amounts. For every stage hereafter, I can tweak it for her. I can make something cost three dimes or add dollars down the road and so on. So many possibilities here! I encourage you to create your own little Grocery Store that you feel would work well for your children. They don't have to become math wizards right now...just begin learning what things are! It's a great way to introduce responsibility with money to your littles!
Right click on the Coin Sheet below and "Save As".
Print it out and use it for your own toddler's Grocery Store!
Enjoy dear friends!
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