Last week in kindergarten, we started our money unit in math. Every child brought in a bag of coins so that we could practice counting sets of money using real money! We sent home a letter to families specifying the number of each coin to include in the set. I gave families about one week's notice and several lovely families sent in extra bags for children who didn't bring in one of their own.
The first money book we read was A Dollar for Penny, by Dr. Julie Glass. The illustrations are lovely and we really enjoyed the simple rhyming text.
Every child used 5 of their pennies to purchase some lemonade and treats. Each item was labeled with a price and children had to decide how to spend their 5 cents. After placing pennies on the items we wanted to purchase, we placed our orders by gluing desired items on a paper mat.
I gave every child a strip of paper pennies to be used to show 5 cents in pennies. Finally, we enjoyed a refreshing glass of lemonade. What a sweet ending to our math lesson!