Parents: Teach kids how to count money

Picture this: Your child, barely tall enough to peek over the kitchen counter, confidently digging into their piggy bank. Their small fingers accurately counting each cent with a proud beam on their face. How empowering would it be for them to understand the value of money at such a young age?

Teaching your kids how to count money is key to building their financial literacy. As parents, you are your child’s first and most influential teacher. What better lesson to start with than the ABCs of money? This blog explores some fun and engaging ways to teach your kids how to count money.

Start with the basics: Identify coins and their values

Teaching your kids about money starts with understanding the different types of coins. If you think about it, coins are like a tiny universe of various sizes, colors, and shapes.

The key players in this universe are pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, and maybe a few other less common coins, like half-dollars or dollars. Each has its own unique value and appearance for your child to understand and remember.

Once the coins are familiar, bring in the fun with various engaging activities to reinforce coin recognition. Set up sorting and matching games where your child can group coins based on their value or appearance.

Greenlight tip: Before allowing your kids to handle coins, ensure that they’ve reached an age where they no longer put objects in their mouths. Always supervise younger children closely when handling coins since they may pose a choking or swallowing hazard.

For a creative twist, coin rubbings offer a unique sensory play experience. Just place a coin under a piece of paper, grab a crayon, and let your child rub away to reveal the coin's details.

There are online resources and apps to help out, too. For example, if you want your kids to learn how to count money fast, games like Peter Pig’s Money Counter can help.

Count single coins and simple combinations

Once your kids have nailed the basics of identifying individual coins, it's time to crank things up a notch. Introduce them to the exciting world of counting single coins and experimenting with simple combinations.

Teach them how to count coins by value, reinforcing these skills through repetition and practice. Don't worry if they mix up dimes and nickels at first. Rome wasn't built in a day, right?

Next up, add a little arithmetic into the mix. Nothing too complex, just simple calculations using one or two coins. This could be as straightforward as showing how two nickels make a dime or how four quarters add up to a dollar.

Introduce real-life scenarios where they can apply these skills, like the classic lemonade stand. You can reinforce their coin-counting skills through exciting role-playing games. Let them be a cashier or a customer at a pretend store or restaurant, using real or play coins.

Teach how to count change and higher amounts

Don’t know where to start? We have a few strategies to make it fun and engaging! Start by introducing the concept of making change.

Let's say your child wants to buy a toy car that costs $2, and they hand over a $5 bill. How much change should they get back? Getting your kids to work out examples like this can help clarify the concept and make it more relatable and easier to understand.

Then comes the fun part — practice! Why not set up a mini marketplace at home where your kids take turns playing buyer and seller, calculating change with play money? You could even stage scenarios requiring change, like a pretend grocery store.

Enhance skills with real-life experiences

Ever thought about making your child a part of your grocery shopping team? Not just for grabbing items off the shelves, but actually involving them in the transactions at checkout. They'll learn by handing over the money and calculating the change.

Of course, in our digital age, cash isn’t the only way we pay. That's why you should introduce your kids to debit and credit cards early on.

Next time you pay by card, let them see the process. Show them how the card gets swiped or inserted, how the amount is deducted, and the importance of keeping those card details safe.

Greenlight tip: It’s never too early to get them their own debit card. With Greenlight, kids and teens can learn to earn, save, and invest with their debit card and money app.

Encourage your child to manage their own savings too. Whether it's from a weekly allowance or birthday money, counting it, watching it grow, and deciding how to spend it can be fun and educational.

Teach your kids about saving for specific goals, like that super cool action figure or the art set they've been eyeing. Discuss spending choices and budgeting through simple techniques like cash stuffing or setting up saving goals in their Greenlight app.

Also, how about providing opportunities for them to earn money? There may be extra chores they can do around the house for a little cash. Not only will they learn about the value of hard work, but they'll also have more 'income' to count, save, and manage.

Utilize technology and online resources

The internet is teeming with age-appropriate resources, interactive games, and educational apps designed to make learning about money fun and engaging. 

One crowd favorite? Greenlight Level Up is a financial literacy game that takes your kid's money skills to the next level. It's designed by financial literacy experts and uses the latest academic and game design research. Your kids will cruise through bite-sized challenges filled with videos, mini-games, and questions, each unlocking practical money skills, including learning how to count money.

Online tutorials and interactive apps like Greenlight are suitable for all ages and learning stages. This app for kids and teens will help you power up your kid’s financial independence using features like chores, allowances, or saving goals.

Teach your kids how to count money with the right app

Congrats, you made it to the end! We've journeyed through strategies you can leverage to teach kids how to count money and become proficient with currency. These include identifying coins, adding and subtracting single coins, making change, and applying these skills in real-life scenarios. Remember, each step paves the way for fostering financial literacy, a gift that keeps on giving as your kids grow.

From encouraging them to save and invest to watching their money grow, Greenlight is just one tap away. Help your kids and teens build money skills for life. Don’t have Greenlight yet? Try your first month free.*

*Subject to minimum balance requirements and identity verification. Plans start at $5.99 after the first month. Offer subject to change at any time.