Lesson 1: Counting Coins

Topic: Understanding Money (Currency)

Overview

This lesson helps you learn about money. You will look at coins, sort them, and count them. You will read books and solve fun problems too. This will help you see how coins and bills connect to buying things. You can keep learning about money all year with fun activities.

What You Will Learn (Objectives)

1. Why we have money
2. How money changed over time (its history)
3. Ways to use money
4. How to name, sort, and count coins and bills

Handouts

• Play Money sheet

Teacher Slides

• Timeline: The History of Money
• Mixed Coins
• Story Problems: Counting Coins

Big Questions

• What is money?
• What does money look like?
• How long have people used money?
• How is money different today than long ago?
• Where can you use money?
• Where does money come from?
• Is money different in other places?

Checking What You Know

Before the lesson:

• Talking About Money activity
• The History of Money activity

After the lesson:

• Play Money handout
• Story Problems: Counting Coins slide
• Class Reflection activity (talking about what you learned)

Time needed: 65 minutes

What you need:

• One penny
• Big paper (chart paper)
• Art supplies: crayons, colored pencils, markers, scissors, tape, glue
• A projector to show slides
• Internet (if you have it)
• Some fun books you could read:
• One Cent, Two Cents, Old Cent, New Cent: All About Money by Bonnie Worth
• The Penny Pot by Stuart J. Murphy
• The Coin Counting Book by Rozanne Lanczak Williams
• If You Made a Million by David M. Schwartz

Getting ready:

• Make copies of the handout
• Set up the projector with the slides

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Warm Up: Talking About Money (5 minutes)

Let's start by talking about what you already know about money.

Question: What is money?

Money is something we use to buy things, like food, books, and toys. We also use it to pay for things people do for us, called services. Getting a haircut, going to the doctor, or watching a movie are all services.

Look at a dollar bill. What could that dollar buy? What could $10 buy? What about $100? Think about things and services you would like to buy, and how much they might cost.

A Tip for Grown-Ups: Many kids today see money used on computers or phones, not just as coins and bills. They see grown-ups use cards to pay, or buy things online. Kids often think a bigger coin is worth more money, but that's not always true! Learning the name, size, look, and worth of each coin helps kids understand money better — even money used online.

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The History of Money in the U.S. (10 minutes)

A fun game to start: Everyone gets a sticker or crayon. For two minutes, you can trade it with your classmates or keep it. Did you trade? How did you decide what to trade for? Do you like your new item more?

Now look at the Timeline: The History of Money slide. It shows how money has changed over time.

Long ago, people did not have coins or bills. Instead, they traded things they had for things they needed. This is called bartering. For example, someone might trade fish for rabbits, or baskets for blankets. Both people had to agree the trade was fair.

Question: Have you ever traded something with a friend?

Bartering could take a long time. If someone didn't want what you had, it was hard to get what you needed. So, people started trading things everyone agreed were valuable — like beads, shells, metals, or gems. These were easier to use as money. Money used to come in all shapes and sizes! Trading gems or metals meant weighing them carefully.

Today, everyone uses the same kind of money. In the U.S., we use paper dollar bills and metal coins. The bills show pictures of past presidents and other important people from history. Banks keep our money safe, so we don't need to carry it all around. People can also use debit cards or ATM cards to get money from the bank, or to buy things online.

Ways to Try This (Grade Level Ideas):

For younger learners: Sort real coins, shells, and play money by how they are alike or different. Talk about why you sorted them that way — maybe by color or by what they're made of.

For older learners: Make a timeline of money's history using pictures. For an extra challenge, look up "The Story of Money" from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta for more examples to add.

TIMELINE: The History of Money

• Past: Tea, spices, shells, beads
• Middle: Gems, precious metals, coins
• Present: Money today

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Look at the Mixed Coins Slide

Look closely at the coins on the slide. How are they different in size? What pictures do you see on them?

Ways to Try This:

For younger learners: Name the coins together as a class — pennies, nickels, dimes, and more. Try matching real coins from a bag to the ones on the slide.

For older learners: Pick two or more coins and add up their value. You could also look at money from other countries and compare it to U.S. money. In some countries, bills come in different colors and sizes!

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Guided Exploration: Discovering the Purpose of Money (15 minutes)

Now it's time to make your own money story! Fold a piece of paper in half.

On the top, finish this sentence: "I would spend money today on ___________."

On the bottom, finish this sentence: "I would like to save money for ___________."

Ways to Try This:

For younger learners: You can cut out pictures from a magazine instead of writing. Or, tell your story out loud for a teacher to write down.

For older learners: Write a short story using the sentences above. Also think about this: What would you do if you found $10? What about $100?

Optional: Read One Cent, Two Cents, Old Cent, New Cent: All About Money by Bonnie Worth. What does the Cat in the Hat learn about money? Compare the pictures in the book to the Timeline slide.

Think about:

• What does money look like in different places?
• What did people use as money long ago?
• How is money different today?

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Using Coins and Bills (20 minutes)

Let's play "I Am Going on a Shopping Trip!" Take turns saying: "I am going on a shopping trip, and I am going to buy ___________."

Ways to Try This:

For younger learners: A teacher writes down what each student says.

For older learners: Try to remember what everyone said before you, then add your own answer!

Great job sharing your ideas! Now you'll get a Play Money handout. Use art supplies to design your own pretend bills. You can even take this home to finish, then cut them out and use them for pretend shopping. Remember — saving money is another way to use it!

Watch a short video: "Designing Money" — kids design and name their own money and decide what it's worth!

Ways to Try This:

For younger learners: Practice cutting carefully around your coins and bills. Talk about how they look and feel compared to real money.

For older learners: Look at real U.S. bills and bills from other countries. Notice the colors and pictures. Bills often use warm colors (red, yellow, gold) or cool colors (blue, green, purple). Try decorating your bill with pictures of people or places that matter to you!

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Wrap Up

Class Reflection (5 minutes)

Question: What do you know about money now?

Share what you learned!

Counting Coins (10 minutes)

Use bags of real or pretend coins to practice "shopping" and making small purchases. (Play coins should be bigger than 2 inches wide, so they are not a choking hazard.)

Ways to Try This:

For younger learners: Sort coins by size and color. Can you find a penny? A nickel? A dime? A quarter? Count your pennies with a partner.

For older learners: Sort coins by value. Pretend to go shopping — can you make the right amount of money, or figure out change?

Example: You had 50 cents and spent 30 cents. How much do you have left?