Before children move on to nickels and dimes (I'll show you how here next week), it's important for them to just get used to the idea of money and coins. If you work on the activities I mentioned yesterday along with your children, it will provide them with a strong foundation for understanding how money works.
Learning about math will come to children naturally if they have numerous, playful experiences with it. That's why, when it comes to coins, there is no way that a worksheet could even come close to the recreation of a make-believe store.
Today, we will take your young entrepreneur into the kitchen, where they will start to understand that food does, but doesn't, "grow on trees." You'll be amazed at how one simple picture book could take learning to a whole new level.
One Pizza, One Penny, by K.T. Hao, is a very clever fable about friendship, food, and budding entrepreneurship. "Chris Croc" likes to bake cakes, and "Ben Bear" likes to make pizza. One day, they are outside sharing their creations when the "richest man on earth" passes by, and let's just say that he leaves them thinking passionately about the possibilities...
Even though the title of this book is One Pizza, One Penny, it's actually a gold coin that is referred to throughout the book. It may have something to do with the fact that this book was originally published in Chinese, and was later translated into English by Roxanne Hsu Feldman. I love that there is no specific currency mentioned because anyone around the world could use this book to introduce coins!
So, I don't want to give away too many details about this fascinating picture book, but in addition to playing store with your child, here are some more activities that go along with this book:
- Children can make predictions about what the book is about based upon the cover. You'd be surprised at what they might come up with!
- The ending of the book opens the door for a lot of discussion as well. Children might want to expand upon the story and older children could even write their own epilogue.
- Children can create their own grocery store in the kitchen, with either real or fake food items. Let them decide how many cents each item is worth. You could even give them a budget of 25 cents (using just pennies first) and let them fill up a shopping cart, box, or bag.
- Cook or bake something together and have family members trade items for coins. You could even grow some fruits and vegetables, trade them, and talk about where the ingredients you cook with come from. It's a way to bring science into it, too.
- Children can make a menu with prices in cents for each item. Let them get creative and add some artwork, and even a restaurant name too! What a great way to connect math, art and literacy!
- Older children can perform more complex math problems by figuring out how much money they would make if they sold a large number of baked items.
- Talk about the fact that there are other types of coins in your own country, and how people in other countries use different coins. You may have some foreign coins lying around from your travels that children might enjoy looking at. Add a world map, and you've just brought geography and history into the mix as well...
- Children can actually become entrepreneurs if they really have a passion for something. Whether they set up a lemonade stand, or sell their own artwork or jewelry, they can learn a lot if they try to sell their own products! Some children have even donated their proceeds to charities.
Many different activities and discussions could come up after reading enchanting children's books like this one. That's why, if your child ever claims to be bored this summer, it's probably a great time to take a trip to your local library!
The last line of One Pizza, One Penny is "Isn't it funny, what one gold coin can do?" Well, I'd like to ask, isn't it funny, what one picture book can do? My answer: a lot more than many people think!
Math. Literacy. Play. Social studies. Science. Who ever said they had to be mutually exclusive?
You may proceed to part 3 here.
