How to Teach Counting Money. A Little Book About Money

There are many ways we can practice counting money. I am always looking for new and engaging activities to teach my firsties how to count money. But counting money is good for any primary student.  I was driving home from work one day thinking about another way to get money across to my students when I thought of making these little books about money.  

We have already covered pennies, nickels, dimes, individually in my class.  Quarters are not one of our first grade standards, so I did not cover quarters at first. But my money books have quarters ready to count for when that time comes.

How to teach money:

I start with a money reward system in my classroom all year, but you wouldn't have to do this all year.  Maybe a few weeks to a month.  I give pennies for positive reinforcement.  On Friday's my students get to eat in the classroom at lunch if they have 10 classroom pennies. To ensure they have pennies, make sure you have ample opportunities for students to earn pennies. The following are a few ways I offer pennies as incentives.  You may have other ways to offer pennies that are unique to your classroom.

a.  Completed work in the morning, centers, or even homework

b.  Walking in a straight line with no talking (the whole class can earn a penny each)

c.  Answering questions during math or a reading lesson.  I pull this out when it seems engagement is low.  "I will give a penny to someone that has the answer to problem 3."  

d.  This is my favorite! Dance parties on Go Noodle. Check out Gonoodle.com if you want to know more about kids dance. The best mover gets a penny! You really have some moves? 2 pennies. This gets the shy or hesitant dancers up and moving.  However, there are always that one or two that choose to sit.  That's ok. There are times I give all the movers and shakers a penny, and other times I pick 1 girl and 1 boy, or just one overall.  

e.  Finishing goals at the end of the week. Our corporation requires that we meet certain amount of minutes on a designated computer program.  My students are aware of this goal every Monday.  Once they meet that goal, they can get a penny.

f.  Classroom jobs

There are so many reasons you can offer pennies.  Give your students a set time they can count their pennies, or they will be trying to count during math class or in a reading groups. When we teach pennies explicitly, of course that is a perfect activity to count their pennies daily. 

But due to me rewarding pennies all year, I allow them to count their pennies at the end of the day during/after packing up.  They may also count them in the morning during unpacking before a set time when we start our day.  Then they must put their pennies in their plastic crayon boxes for safekeeping. 

Tips to consider: If your student loses a few pennies or their whole penny bag. Pre-teach a lesson and dramatize that you are in Wa-wa with your children.  You lose $20 somewhere in the produce by the bananas. You go back and can't find it. Sometimes you are lucky enough that someone sees it and hands it back to you. However, if you don't find it, Wa-wa cannot give you the $20.  I do not replace lost pennies.  If I discover a theft, consequences of the person that took the money are that they will have to turn their money into the 'bank.'  I must be absolutely certain they took it, from a confession or other factors.   I can then return the money to the student that lost it.  If not, unfortunately, it is lost.  I have learned that if they keep their money in the plastic crayon box, it rarely gets lost or comes up missing.  This is good for learning about pennies and responsibility for students to keep track of money. 

Teach the penny explicitly for one week. Talk about what it looks like front and back, how to count, and then several activities such as My Money Book Penny FREE! Click on the picture to receive this FREE Product!

Teach the nickel the same way.  Talk about what it looks like, how to count, and then finalize with several activities. My Money Book: Nickels! Click on the picture to see more or to purchase!

Teach about the dime. Below is the My Money Book Dimes!

My Money Book Dimes: Click on the picture for more information or to purchase!

Lastly, you can teach mixed coins, review what the coins look like, but make sure to teach that as they change coins going from largest value to smallest value they need to change how they are counting. (It is very helpful if you have already taught how to count by ones, fives, tens, and twenty-fives previous to teaching money.) 

👉If you would like this book activity to teach mixed coins, click here to purchase or to receive more information.