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sorting

Teaching The Value Of Money

IMG_5417They say “Money can’t buy you happiness.” This may be true, but it sure can buy you a lot of things that make you happy. People love money. Even at an early age the love of money begins. My daughter may not comprehend the value of money, but she sure does know that she likes it. Whenever there is spare change lying around, her face lights up & she hoards it for her piggy bank.

Mai is in her “I want that” phase. We can barely leave the house without it. At the grocery store I hear it echoing down every aisle. “I want the Goldfish crackers.” “I want the funny juice box.” Alright, but you’re buying today. It is funny, she never does.

Children’s brands are clever. They advertise everywhere. Luckily, we do not watch much television that contains commercials, but those marketers find a way to sneak in a ad anywhere. While reading to Mai ‘If You Give A Mouse A Cookie’, she noticed the back book jacket with the author’s other books on it.

“Mama, I want the pig with the pancake.”

“I’m sorry honey. We don’t have that book.”

“Mama, you go to the store & get the pig with the pancake?”

Siiiiiiiigh! Thank goodness for the library.

I can remember at a young age my mother telling me “Money doesn’t grow on trees.” My smart ass remark back was always “Yes it does. Money is made out of paper & paper grows on trees.” Oh how, I wish I could go back in time & smack the crap out of myself.

We want Mai to grow up understanding the value of money and how to spend responsibly, but for now we will just start with her being able to differentiate between those coins that she loves to hoard. Here is an easy coin sorting activity.

What you will need:

2 paper plates

A couple of markers

Glue

Scissors

Assorted change

Directions: Money is dirty, so be sure to clean your change first. On one plate, slice 4 slits on the back just long enough to fit each coin. Use a marker & write the value of each coin to the side of the slit. On the other side of the slit, attach the coin with glue or with tape. Write the coin name underneath. Place the other plate down normally. Staple or glue the paper plate with the coins to the other one so that the coins are on top. It will form a little container to insert & catch the coins in.

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“Mama, now we put them in the piggy bank?” The kid is no dummy.

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Sorting Game For Toddlers

IMG_20140316_010654149 (1)I know that there are mixed feelings about children and electronics. I think that they can be a great learning tool, but in moderation. Our daughter has a Nabi Tablet. It has been a wonderful tool in promoting learning for our daughter. She can access her ABC Mouse Learning Center from there and there are also a lot of learning apps that we selected for her. As I said, I think that is a fabulous tool to educate my daughter, but I also don’t want her parked in front of it for hours on end. I thought I could bring one of her favorite lessons to life.

There is one application that has an assortment of objects and a row of baskets that represents a category that each of these objects falls into. She loves this one & is starting to get pretty good at it. I decided to use this idea to create a similar game that she could play sorting various pictures & matching them to their coordinating category.

What you will need:

Paper bowls or another bowl shaped container

Old magazines or computer print-outs of clip art

Scissors

Glue

Posterboard

Directions:

Figure out what categories you would like to use. I chose animals, clothing, toys, food & transportation.

Flip through old magazines and cut out various pictures.

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Cut out pictures that fit your various categories.

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Put your pictures in a container.

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Make a sign for your category with picture examples of the category. Glue it to the inside of the bowl.

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Line up your sorting bowls & spread out the picture cutouts in front of them.

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Match up your pictures to the appropriate bowl. Here we have a dog, cat & horse matched up to the animal sorter.

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Hmm…Where does this go?

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Right there..right there

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My daughter loves anything that has pictures that she can sort through. She named off all of the cut outs and we sorted through them together. She did the best on her own with the animals and the food. I love this activity. It is cheap & easy to make and it is something we can do together or she can play with on her own.

Related Topics:

http://mommiesstudygroup.wordpress.com/2014/03/15/playdough/

http://mommiesstudygroup.wordpress.com/2014/03/15/painting-with-baloon/