Although money worksheets are helpful for practice, learning to count money and make change is easier when kids have something to hold onto. You can buy play money in stores, but it's really easy to make fake money for kids with free printable templates for bills and coins.
Counting Money for Kids
Teaching kids to count money and make change can be fun if you incorporate the pretend money into playtime. Gather some toys and mark each with a price-tag. Give your child an "allowance" of enough pretend money to purchase several, but not all, of the toys. Help your child figure out how many toys he can afford, using the money you have handed out.
- Start out simple, with nice even round numbers. It's easier for a child just learning to count money to figure out change if all of the toys cost an even dollar amount.
- As your child gets better at counting the money, add cents to the prices for a challenge.
Pretending to buy items in the home, and calculating the correct change for purchases, are great ways to prepare for actual consumer transactions. Let your child handle the money for small store purchases as well, once he becomes comfortable through extra practice with counting out play money at home.