When I was a kid, summer camping was a lot of fun. It was even better when the campground had a game room. My mother’s purse was a treasure trove for coins, so when I needed money, guess who I would go running to. Yep, my mom. She’d tell me to go grab some coins out of her purse. Her purse must have weighed an extra ten pounds for all the coins. Coming out with a handful of quarters was the best! They were much needed for playing the pinball machines.
This week’s game is a money game involving coins. I’ve never met a child yet who doesn’t like to play with coins. This is a fairly simple game called Make the Amount, game M10 in the Math Card Games book. You want to make sure your child knows which coin is which, what amount it’s valued at, as well as counting by 5s and 10s.
In this game, the goal is to use the least amount of coins to make an amount.
From the deck of Money cards you’ll give each player 2 half-dollars, 4 quarters, 7 dimes, 4 nickels, and 7 pennies. Or if you are like me and want them to be comfortable with the real deal, you can give them actual coins. Half dollars are not as easy to come by so, unless you have a stash, you may need to run by the bank and see if they have any. If you don’t want to go to that trouble, then you could use coins for all the other amounts and the money card for the half-dollar. Regardless, each player will keep this same amount all through the game.
For the stock, you need an assortment of Multiplication cards. Pick out the cards depending on the ability of the child.
Start the game by turning over the top card of the stock of multiplication cards. Both players will play their coins to make the amount at the same time. The player who uses the fewest cards/coins receives one point. If there is a tie then both players will get a point.
This game is fun because you get to see a variety of ways to reach the amount. It also requires some strategy as you want to use the least amount of coins.
The game is over when the stock of multiplication cards is used up.
For older children: If making the amount on the card is too easy, they can show what coins they need to make one dollar. This way you can have children of various abilities playing the same game.
Happy playing!
