Money Skills for Kids

Lesson 1: Kindergarteners And Money

Connecting actions with consequences in object lessons

One of your kindergartener’s proudest accomplishments is beginning to count numbers and items on her/his own as s/he grows. Coupled with the learning experiences from everyday situations, kindergarteners soon realize that numbers play an integral role when dealing with length, quantity, time, temperature, money, etc.

In order to truly facilitate a child’s understanding of math, hands-on activities are essential. Games such as sorting and putting objects in sequence are early experiments in math, and should be encouraged.

Lesson 1:
If you have not done so when exploring the “Brief History of Money” , now is a good time to familiarize your child with the different looks of our currency. So, find pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, $1 dollar bills, $5 dollar bills, $10 dollar bills, and $20 dollar bills. Show these to your child:

• allow her/him to handle them, smell them, etc.
• put some coins under tracing paper, and with a pencil or some charcoal, great rubbings may be created!
• explain the different faces on our currency; the $1 shows the face of Washington with the Seal of the United States is on the back; the $5 shows the face of Lincoln, while the back depicts the Lincoln Memorial; $10 bills have the face of Hamilton on the front and a picture of the Treasury Building on the back; $20 show the face of Jackson on the front and the White House on the back; $50 depict Grant on the front and the U.S. Capitol on the back; last but not least, $100 show the face of Franklin and Independence Hall on the back.

Lesson 2:
Play counting and sorting games with coins. Teach your child how five pennies equal one nickel, two nickels one dime, etc. Kindergarteners will understand that each coin has a different value, and that combinations thereof also have their own values. To play very easy counting games on-line, visit the Rainbow Castle Game A.G. Edwards offers as part of its Big Money Adventure for Kids.

Lesson 3:
Now is a good time to teach your child(ren) that their handling of money has distinct effects. Again, A.G. Edwards offers a great game that illustrates how choices affect the outcome of a story. Please visit the Storybook Adventures, which illustrate that spending all the money available will end the story, while apportioning it wisely will allow the story to continue and the characters will be able to have more adventures. Kindergarteners will come to understand that handling money involves making choices.

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