Money Math K-2: A FUN Game

Peg’s Pot of Gold

This game can be used anytime of year. It is a great filler when you need to fill some time gaps.

This game was inspired many years ago by a colleague of mine. Peg was very creative and used this in her 1st-2nd multi-age classroom. Living in New England and in a rural farming area, sometimes the school enrollment can be small, and multi-age classrooms simply work. Her original design was the backbone of what we have developed for this particular game. Thanks Peg!

For the St. Patrick’s Day version of the game we aptly named it “Peg’s Pot of Gold.” This is a two-for-one math game and we are sure that your children, whether in a classroom or homeschool environment, will have fun playing while reinforcing their loose-change money skills.

DIY Dice

In the version Peg created, she used a square eraser and wrote the above letters on each side of the cube. You can use any cube shaped item and get really creative. We made and tested our DIY Dice (complete directions in the STEMHAX St. Patrick’s Day digital download) and the kids loved the fun shamrock sticker (which allows them to go again).

Playing the Game 2-4 Players

Materials

15 Pennies
15 Nickels
15 Dimes
15 Quarters
DIY Dice
Coin Holder (Cup, bowl, “Pot of Gold”, etc.)
Money Data Sheet (make your own or download the 30 page packet)
Pretend Store (or make your own store)
Pencils

Directions

Going first – whoever is wearing the most green.
Roll the dice.
Pick the coin that matches the letter shown face-up on the cube.
Place the coin on the “Money Data Sheet” in the correct coin column.
Repeat going clockwise, taking turns, until a player has 4 quarters.
Make a prediction as to who has the most money to spend in the store.
Add the value of all the coins.
In order of who has the most money (value of coins). shop for items first, and so on.
Play again until all items have been purchased from the store.

Engage with Technology

Kids love technology and so do teachers. Especially when there some fun associated with the learning process. Skill in Drill will always have its place, but it is not the only place!

Coins

ABC Mouse has created this wonderful jingle about money and coins. I have seen this video at least 500 times and I still love to hear the song.

The Money Song

Jack Hartman is a kids go-to for almost any topic in early childhood education. The Money Song is really good!

Money Song

Kids will want to watch this over and over. It is cute! They will challenge themselves to keep up with the speed of the video.

Let’s Play the Money Math Game

Part One: Collecting Money

Once the game is all set up and ready to play, consider watching the quick video “Coins!” on YouTube from ABC Mouse (LOVE LOVE LOVE). This is a fun video and an effective refresher on coins. This builds confidence in kids and really gets them excited about playing the game, and picking out the money.

Once a player has four quarter’s it’s time to add the value…

Part Two: What Money Can Buy!

Once your little ones have added their money, let them go shopping. This great for one on one practice or in a center. Here are three options!

Option 1

There are so many ways to set up a store. If a classroom has a store space already implemented there is no prep and this game should work effortlessly. However, we have a few alternatives for your on hand STEM bins. The first is simply keeping all the game items in a plastic bin; the cube, coins, money, pencils, copies of the Money Data Sheets, a copy of the Pretend Store. With this option the store items are on a printed sheet and placed in a plastic page protector, Add a couple of dry erase markers and you have a simple mobile center. For individual use crayons work well, too.

Option 2

Similar to option #1, just exchange the dry erase markers for manipulatives. We used building blocks. This game can be used any time of the year. Use hearts for Valentine’s Day or gold plastic coins for St. Patrick’s Day. If children are playing this as a game, six blocks of each color (2-4 players) should work perfectly.

Option 3

Option #3 is our favorite store. Simply print on paper or card stock, color the items for the store, laminate and cut out your cute little shopping items. Making multiple copies will add for a more engaging shopping experience. Kids are cute and they want to have more than one person earn the same item from the store. There have been times when the laminating machine was broken. I have used this option many times in the past.

After coloring simply cut the items out and put clear packing tape on both sides of the items. This will help to protect the props for multiple uses. This is the most FUN way to play!

St. Patrick’s Day Companion

This game is one of the items included in our 40 page download for St. Patrick’s Day. The companion packet includes Science, Technology, Engineering, Math, History, Art, and XTRA cool stuff for St. Patrick’s Day! Some of the items included are games, puzzles and no-prep worksheets. We had a great time putting together this packet and look forward to hearing how much fun your kids had playing “Peg’s Pot of Gold!” Thank you, see you soon! Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Money Math K-2: A FUN Game

Peg’s Pot of Gold

DIY Dice