Activity #1: Saving Mr.Banks

I am constantly scoring the internet for fun and inexpensive ways to keep my daughter occupied. She loves playing with the coins in my purse and it occurred to me -why not teach her to save. 

My dad always took me and my sister to the bank as kids. He would patiently explain to us how money works. He even taught us how to fill out checks when we were just 8-9years old. 

Inspired by my dad, my husband and I took my 3year old to a nearby bank and picked up some coin wrappers. The Manager at our local bank was kind enough to explain to my kid how to wrap the coins. Since my daughter only knows to count to 10, we asked her to make piles of 10 coins. We then stacked them up in a wrapper and deposited the money into her bank account. What better way to teach your kids to save?! 

We brought home extra wrappers so we could role up the coins at home before heading out to the bank. The following activity is now a regular part of our lives. 

Kids learn

- Subtle differences in SIZE. 

- Concept of money - penny, nickel, dime and quaters

- Math skills - counting

- Motor skills- Stacking and rolling up coins

It is a 4 step process 

Step 1- Collect

Make collecting coins fun- get a nice piggy bank. 

- Reward them good behavior with some change. 

- Cleaning up for instance is a great way to find coins, especially the ones hiding in sofa corners and drawers. 

- Treasure hunting is a fun way to find coins. 

Step 2- Sort

Sort them into different denominations- get a box with compartments (I got mine from a dollar store and labeled each compartment). 

- Let them sort out the coins based in sizes.

- Teach them the value of each coin. 

- You could also have some foreign coins and let her sort them based on country and teach them how money has different names in different countries. 

Step 3- Count

Count and Stack - Create challenges

- Make a tower- ask them to use bigger coins for the base and smaller coins as you go up. 

- Make stacks with certain number of coins, in increments of certain coins, etc..

- Divide coins into equal parts ( great way to teach division - introduce words like quotient and remainders- more ideas coming up in a follow up post). 

Step 4- Save 

Wrap and Deposit- Get coin wrappers and start a bank account. 

- Coin wrappers are available in banks and dollar stores. 

- Starting a bank account for your kid is a good way to start saving for their future (college and other things).