Use play money to practice making change. Work as a pair, with your child as the teller and you as the customer. The teller must try to cash the customer s check using the least amount of bills and coins. Children learn quickly how their change adds up when they put coins in the paper wrappers that banks provide for coin deposits. It s a good idea to have wrappers handy when it comes time to empty piggy banks or family money jar.
Families order take-out food from time to time.
Give children a dollar amount and a menu, then ask them to figure out how to order a meal for the family without going over budget. Community Connection Go to a local bank to learn firsthand about what happens to the money that gets deposited. Back home, create a flow chart that shows where the money goes, from the cash deposit to the cashed check. Ask your local bank for penny wrappers. Ask your child to collect and wrap pennies in stacks of 50, measure the stacks, and make up her own Penny Problems.