Money Smart Grades Pre-K–2: Educator Guide

Lesson 1: Counting Coins

Topic: Understanding Currency (money, in all its forms)

Overview

This lesson helps students learn the basics of money while having fun with coins. Through children's books, word problems, and hands-on activities—like identifying, sorting, and counting coins—students start to connect the physical coins and bills they hold to the bigger idea of using money to buy things. Teachers can keep exploring money all year long with extra activities in different subjects, done alone or in small groups.

Objectives

By the end of this lesson, students should be able to:

1. Describe what money is used for
2. Look at and talk about the history of money
3. Explain different ways people use money
4. Identify, sort, and count coins and bills

Handouts

• Play Money

Teacher Presentation Slides

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

Essential Questions

• What is money?
• What does money look like?
• How long have people used money?
• How is money different today compared to the past?
• Where can I use money?
• Where does money come from?
• How is money different in other countries?

Assessment Activities

Before the lesson (Pre-Assessment):

• Activity: Talking About Money
• Activity: The History of Money

After the lesson (Post-Assessment):

• Handout: Play Money
• Story Problems: Counting Coins slide
• Activity: Class Reflection

Time: 65 minutes

Supplies:

• One penny
• Chart paper
• Art supplies (crayons, colored pencils, markers, scissors, tape, glue)
• Projector (for the presentation slides)
• Internet access (optional)
• Suggested books (optional):
• 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

Preparation:

• Make copies of the student handout
• Set up the projector with the presentation slides
• Review the glossary of key vocabulary words

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Start the lesson by finding out what students already know about money.

Ask students: What is money?

After students share their ideas, explain that money is something we use to buy goods (like food, books, and toys) or services (like haircuts, doctor visits, and movie tickets).

Show students a dollar bill and ask what it could buy. Then ask what $10 or $100 could buy. Have students name things or services they'd like to buy and guess how much each one costs. Write their answers on a list, such as games or food (ask for specific examples).

Money Smart Tip!
Many young learners today mostly see money used digitally. They often watch adults use debit or ATM cards, or buy things online, instead of using cash. Because of this, they may think a coin's value depends on its size. Learning to identify coins by their look, size, name, and value helps students connect real objects to the numbers and value they represent. This understanding will also help them make sense of digital money and online spending later on.

Instruction Steps

Warm Up

Talking About Money — 5 minutes
The History of Money in the U.S. — 10 minutes

Optional introductory game: Give each student one sticker or crayon, using different styles or colors. Tell them they have two minutes to either keep their item or trade it with classmates. Then ask: How many of you traded your item? How did you decide what to trade for? If you traded, do you like your new item more?

Teacher Tips:

• Look for grade-level suggestions throughout this lesson to help you adjust activities for your students.
• Try connecting the ideas of borrowing and lending to everyday classroom routines. This gives young students a personal way to understand these financial ideas.
• Make time to explore the books and online resources mentioned in this lesson.

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Show the first slide, Timeline: The History of Money, which shows how money has changed over time. Explain that long ago, people traded goods and services directly instead of using money—this is called bartering, where two people trade items they agree are equal in value. For example, someone might trade fish for rabbits, or baskets for blankets. Bartering lets people trade for what they need, but both people have to agree the items are worth the same amount.

Ask students: Have you ever bartered with a friend by trading items?

Explain that money has changed a lot over time. Bartering could take a long time, and if someone didn't want what you had to offer, it was hard to get what you needed. To make trading easier, people began using common items that everyone agreed had value, such as beads, shells, metals, or gems. Early money came in many different sizes, shapes, and materials. If people traded metals or gems, they had to weigh and measure them carefully. Today, that's no longer necessary because everyone uses the same kind of money. In the United States, bills are made of paper and coins are made of metal. Paper money shows pictures of past presidents and other important historical figures.

Banks keep our money safe so we don't have to carry large amounts of cash around. People can use debit or ATM cards to access money from their bank accounts and can also use these cards to shop online.

Grade-Level Modifications:

Pre-K–K: Sort real-world items from the History of Money slide by how they are similar or different (shells, coins, play money). Students can explain their sorting choices, such as grouping by color or material. This can also lead to a discussion about how things in the classroom or community change over time.

Grades 1–2: Have students create their own timeline of money's history using the items shown in the slide. For an extra challenge, students can explore The Story of Money from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta to find more examples of money throughout history to add to their timeline.
www.frbatlanta.org/about/tours/story-of-money.aspx

Timeline: The History of Money
Tea, spices, shells, beads → Gems, precious metals, coins → Money today
(Past → Present)

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Next, show the Mixed Coins slide so students can look closely at different modern coins. Ask them to describe how the coins are different in size and design.

Grade-Level Modifications:

Pre-K–K: As a class, name the coins shown on the slide (pennies, nickels, dimes, and so on). Students can also use bags of play or real coins to find and hold up the matching coin.

Grades 1–2: Choose two or more coins from the slide and have students add up their total value. Students can also look at money from other countries and compare it to U.S. money. It's interesting to note that bills in other countries are sometimes different colors and sizes.

Guided Exploration

Discovering the Purpose of Money — 15 minutes

After learning about the history of money, tell students they'll get to create their own story about money. Give each student a piece of construction paper and have them fold it in half. On the top half, have them finish this sentence: "I would spend money today on ___________." On the bottom half, have them complete this sentence: "I would like to save money for ___________."

Grade-Level Modifications:

Pre-K–K: Help students by cutting out magazine pictures for them to glue on instead of writing. They can also tell their story out loud while the teacher or a helper writes it down.

Grades 1–2: Have students write a short story using the sentence starters, plus this extra question: What would you do if you found $10? $100?

Optional: Read One Cent, Two Cents, Old Cent, New Cent: All About Money by Bonnie Worth. While reading, ask students what The Cat in the Hat learns about money. Students can also compare the pictures in the book to what they saw on the History of Money timeline slide.

Ask:

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

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Using Coins and Bills — 20 minutes

Play a whole-group game called "I Am Going on a Shopping Trip" to help students connect coins and bills to their value. Each student takes a turn finishing the sentence: "I am going on a shopping trip, and I am going to buy _________."

Grade-Level Modifications:

Pre-K–K: Write each student's answer on chart paper, showing them how writing works.

Grades 1–2: Repeat each student's earlier answer before their turn, turning it into a memory game.

After celebrating everyone's great ideas, give each student a Play Money handout along with art supplies so they can design their own bills. This handout can also be sent home as homework. When finished, students can cut out their coins and bills to use for pretend shopping trips at home. Explain that saving money is another way people can use it.

Short video suggestion: Designing Money (PreK–2) — Kids design, create, and name their own currency, and decide what it's worth. Also see Read a Good Book: Currency, from Iowa Public Television's KIDS Clubhouse Adventures.
https://whut.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/a8879ce0-5c0d-420a-8e11-72adf8f9adf0/read-a-good-book-currency-iptv-kids-clubhouse/

Grade-Level Modifications:

Pre-K–K: Let students practice cutting skills as they cut out the coins and bill they designed. They can describe what they're cutting and compare it to how real coins and bills look and feel.

Grades 1–2: Have students look at pictures of U.S. bills and bills from other countries, noticing the colors and images used. These images can be found online. Bills often use either warm colors (red, yellow, gold) or cool colors (blue, green, purple). Encourage students to decorate their own bill using pictures that matter to them, choosing either warm or cool colors.

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Wrap Up

Class Reflection — 5 minutes

Ask students: What do you now know about money?

Invite them to share their thoughts. Check that they understand the lesson, and consider setting up extra activity stations for students who want to explore the topic further.

Counting Coins — 10 minutes

Give students small bags of real or play coins to use for whole-class problem-solving, such as pretend shopping trips or small purchases. This activity can be repeated throughout the year so students become more comfortable and confident identifying cents and dollars. (Note: Play coins should be larger than 2 inches across to avoid any choking risk.)

Grade-Level Modifications:

Pre-K–K: Practice sorting coins by size and color. Ask students to show you a penny, a nickel, a dime, and a quarter. Have them count their pennies and share the total with a partner.

Grades 1–2: Practice sorting coins by value. Have students pretend to shop for an item, then create that amount using coins or figure out the correct change.

For example: You had 50 cents and spent 30 cents. How much do you have left? Try showing different amounts using coins or bills—for instance, using cents to represent today's date.