Early financial literacy is important to ensure good money habits into adulthood. It’s also a perfect response to the age-old question, “why do I need to learn math?” Most kids like earning money so it’s a great way to incorporate math skills while having some money fun. Here are 6 games that can help you teach math and money skills to your elementary school student. For these games, feel free to use your own spare change when needed or make your own coin cutouts.
Make your own mini corn-hole game but with coins. Using either bowls or cups, place them in the center. On their turn, each player tries to toss as many coins into their bowl or cup as possible during the set time limit chosen. The catch is that any coins that miss the bowl or cup go to the other player's money pile. Once each player has a turn, count up their winnings to see who has the most money. Whoever has the highest dollar total (not the greatest number of coins) wins.
With COVID-19 keeping most of us inside, you can bring the beloved hide and seek game indoors. One person (A parent or an older child) hides a set number of coins around the house. Then all the players set off around the house to find the hidden coins. Once all the hidden coins have been collected, count each player’s total. The player with the highest total collected is the winner. Feel free to take turns with different players hiding coins, just make sure to collect them all once the game ends!
A play on the classic TV show, you can bring home the fun by creating a grocery store at home. Using items from your pantry, assign simple price amounts to each item. Once your child's shopping trip is complete, have them count out the cost of each item to see if they can purchase it.
For older kids, advance it to the next level by marking off certain items by a certain percentage.
You can set a budget amount, say $25 for the shopping trip, and allow them to select the items of their choosing. Help your child calculate the total at the end to see if they stayed under budget. If you have the space and can do it safely, set a timer and see how many groceries they can pick in under 2 minutes and stay under budget, for a little extra fun.
Create a game with money math word problems. Write out advanced word problems with varying levels of difficulty, assigning a point value to each question. Example questions could include, "If Mary had $5.00 and gives $3.50 to her friend Susie to buy an ice cream cone, how much money does Mary have?” A winner is determined by whoever has the most points at the end of the game.
We all know jump rope is a great physical activity for kids as well as being fun. For younger kids you can have them practice counting up to a certain number or counting backwards For older kids, you can call out different math problems while you child is jumping rope and have them jump the answer. For example, if you call out 3*4 = 12, your child will jump 12 times.
If your child is studying for a test and gets restless just sitting down and reading, provide a change of scenery by helping your child study while they are jumping rope. You can read out study math problems or questions and assign a number of jumps for each correct or incorrect answer. (ex. no jumps for each correct answer, 10 jumps for each incorrect answer). You can especially use this idea to work through problem areas with your child.
This a perfect group game for three or more people. All you need to play is a set of three dice and some dollar bills, or coins of any denomination. Each player puts 3 coins or dollars in the middle to create a "pot". Roll the dice, with L = Left, R= Right and C = Center. If you roll an "L", you pass your dollar to the left, if you roll an "R" pass your dollar or coin to the right, if you roll a "C" put your dollar in the Center. Then you pass the dice to the next player to roll. The game is over when one player has all the money and wins all the money in the center pile.
For more math fun, give us a call or send us an email for more information. We offer specialized instruction for children in grades 2 through 12. We look forward to hearing from you!
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