Counting Coins

Counting money can be a tricky skill to teach students! Coin values are confusing because they don’t match the size of the coin. Adding to the confusion, kids have to skip count in several ways to count a mixed group of coins. Students can get SOOOO confused about switching from counting by 10s to counting by 5s and then changing to 1s. But counting money is a critical life skill, so I will share some strategies I use in my classroom to help students relate counting coins to other math skills that they have learned.

Counting money requires that students be able to skip count by 5s, 10s, and 25s. Long before you begin to teach money, practice skip counting with your child. To start, listen to them count by 5s and 10s; this will help you identify how much practice your child needs. I add skip counting activities to task boxes or math routines in the classroom and practice this skill a few times a week.

To practice skip counting, you can use skip counting songs.

Count by Tens and Exercise

Once kids understand the basic routine of skip counting by 5s and 10s, I add some skip counting cards to my task boxes. While the songs help with hearing the pattern of skip counting, the cards help students SEE the pattern of skip counting. You can make your own cards from index cards or post-it notes.

<insert a photo of my skip counting cards>

This is a skip counting card activity in my classroom.

You can have kids count around the circle at supper or in the car. First, introduce this activity by counting by 1s, with the first person saying “1,” the following person saying “2,” and so on. Once they understand the concept, change to counting by 5s or 10s. You may need to have a hundred chart initially to help your child identify the following number. Free printable hundreds chart can be found here, or ask your child’s teacher for a copy of one. To keep the activity engaging, you can time how long it takes to make it around the circle or to 100 (or any other number.) But remember to support your child if they are less confident with the skill – give them a hundred chart or make sure they are the first to say a number (because they are more likely to know the early numbers.)

Once your child is pretty solid with basic skip counting, you can introduce counting from a random number. This routine helps prepare kids to count money without thinking about coin values. It is similar to counting around the circle, but you say a number and have your child count up from that number.

Another activity that requires counting from a random number is “start and stop counting.” In this activity, one person counts up to a number and stops. Then, the following person will continue counting. Each time, change the skip counting pattern part way through. So you may start by having your child count by 5s, then after several numbers (ex: 5, 10, 15, 20), tell them to stop and count by 1s from the number that you last said (21, 22, 23, 24…).

When you begin, only do 5s and 1s. Then, as learners become more comfortable with the routine, you can add 10s and 25s and change them three to four times as you work around the circle (to resemble counting a mixed group of coins.) Expect your child to be slow the first several times, but they will pick up speed as this becomes more familiar.

When I introduce counting money with coins, I start with only pennies. Then I move to count nickels only. Using one type of coin helps me monitor their number sense skills before I introduce two kinds of coins (ex: nickels and pennies.) Some children will need to practice with only two coins for a longer time to gain confidence in switching between two types of counting (ex. counting by 5s and then counting by 1s).

Allow them to count real coins or play games with only nickels and pennies. (Real coins may be easier to identify than plastic coins for kids who need additional support.)

I limit the coins in math assignments by crossing out the dimes and/or quarters for these students until they master nickel and penny combinations. Then, as you add dimes, continue to practice with only two coins at first (dimes and nickels or dimes and pennies). Then you can use mixed groups of the three coins.

The sequence of introducing and practicing counting coin combinations that I use is:

• pennies

• nickels

• nickels, pennies

• dimes

• dimes, pennies

• dimes, nickels

• dimes, nickels, pennies

• quarters

• quarters, pennies

• quarters, nickels

• quarters, nickels, pennies

• quarters, dimes

• quarters, dimes, pennies

• quarters, dimes, nickels

• quarters, dimes, nickels, pennies

Because American coin values do not match coin sizes (and switching between kinds of coins is tricky), some learners benefit from visual reminders to help them count.

It may help your child to have an anchor chart or poster with the coin values displayed. You might even write the skip counting pattern below each coin. Then, they can refer to this as they are counting money during games or other math activities.

<insert anchor chart here>

A poster or anchor chart can prompt learners as they count coins.

If your child struggles to shift between skip counting patterns while counting money, you might use “touchpoint dots.” This is helpful when counting nickels, dimes, and quarters. With touchpoints dots, each dot equals 5. So a nickel would have one dot; a dime would have two dots, and a quarter would have five dots. When the child counts the dots on the coins, they will count them by touching the does and counting by 5s.

You can add a variety of money games to practice counting coins. Your child will love playing games in math – the best part is they won’t even realize they are practicing math while they play! Here are a few simple money game ideas:

1. Identifying Coin Names & Value

   • Given a penny, nickel, dime, or quarter, STUDENT will be able to tell the name and amount of the coin with 100% accuracy on 2 out of 3 sessions as measured by a teacher-made progress chart.

2. Dollar Bill Names & Value

   • Given $1, $5, $10, and $20 bills, STUDENT will identify and sort the bill with 100% accuracy on 2 out of 3 sessions as measured by a teacher-made progress chart.

3. Skip Counting

   • When asked

4. Counting Same Coins & Counting Mixed Coins

   • Given a set of flashcards with quarters, pennies, nickels, and dimes and amounts to $1.00, STUDENT will be able to count and identify the amount with 100% accuracy, 2 out of 3 trials as measured by teacher notes, progress charts, and classroom observation.

5. Show money amounts

   • Given orally or written, 10 money amounts up to $1.00 and a random assortment of coins, STUDENT will show the correct amount using the least number of coins on 8 out of 10 trials across 3 consecutive data sessions as measured by by teacher notes, progress charts, and classroom observation.

6. Do I have Enough Money?

   • Given a money amount up to $100.00, STUDENT will be able to find the item to purchase that they can buy with the money shown with 100% accuracy on 2 out of 3 sessions as measured by a teacher-made progress chart.

7. Counting Dollar Bills

   • Given bills with the like denomination and an amount up to $120, STUDENT will be able to count money up to the amount shown with 100% accuracy on 2 out of 3 sessions as measured by a teacher-made progress chart.

   • Given bills with different denomination and an amount up to $$, STUDENT will be able to count money up to the amount shown with 100% accuracy on 2 out of 3 sessions as measured by a teacher-made progress chart.

8. Count bills and coins

   • Given a written or oral price of an item up to $$$ and a random assortment of bills and coins, STUDENT will count money to pay for the item with the lowest number of coins and the correct amount with 100% accuracy on 3 out of 4 sessions as measured by classroom data.

9. Next Dollar Up Strategy

   • When given a price, STUDENT will use the “next dollar up” method to determine the amount of money needed to purchase the item with 100% accuracy on 3 out of 4 sessions as measured by classroom data.

10. Making Change

    • When given a money amount and an item price, STUDENT will make change using the fewest number of coins with 100% accuracy on 3 out of 4 sessions as measured by classroom data.