Focus On: Money Games

Hey!

My little sweetie is napping right now so I thought I'd pop in to share with you some great ways to bring games into your classroom to help your students practice money.

It can be a very tricky skill for students, so the more fun you can make it, the more engaged your students will be.

So let's focus, shall we?

First off, I came across this great visual from the Teaching In Progress Blog.  I think it really helps students to make connections.  If you're kiddos are just getting acquainted with money values, this would be a great place to start!

As students get better at identifying coin values, having them add and compare is a great next step.  This game has students identify the total value of the coins shown on the game cards and then compare the value to a dollar. 

{click on this freebie game pic to download}

I LOOOOOVE this next idea from Sunny Days in Second Grade.  Just hot glue some play coins to a wooden cube and the possibilities are endless.  Poof - instagame :)

Here are a couple ways that I thought of for using these money dice.

1.  Have partners roll 2 dice to compare who rolled the larger amount.

2.  Have partners play "Closest to $1.00."  Each partner continues to roll one die to see how close they can get to a dollar without going over.  Each player can roll as many times as they'd like to get as close as they can.  The partner that comes the closest to $1.00, gets a point.  This makes for a strategy game, as well!

 I'm a fan of having students integrate as many skills as possible, and this game helps students to practice their spelling words while practicing money counting as well.  Each letter of their spelling word has a value (see chart below).  Students add up all the letter values together.

{Click on the pic below to snag your freebie!}

And finally, another quick DIY game:  money sticks.  Create several sticks by hot gluing play coins onto large Popsicle sticks.  Place the sticks (coin-side) down into a cup so students can't see the values.  (Tip:  I would also label each stick with a number or letter so that students can record that letter or number on a recording sheet, making it easy for you to check their work.) 

Make this an individual center by having students pull out each stick and adding up the value.  You could also have them add 2 or more sticks together.  

Make it a partner game by having partners each pull out a stick and compare their values.  The partner with the larger value gets a point.

And there you have it, my friends!  

How do YOU focus on money in your classroom?

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