By Haley Hall, B.A. LEAP Instructor & Learning Specialist
Does your child have a difficult time counting money or figuring out how to give change? Knowing how to use money to buy items from a store and to create a budget are important life skills. Last year I created a school store in an empty room at our Urbandale office. The LEAP students loved “buying” items from the store and were always excited when it was time to go “shopping!” Students brought in empty food boxes and cartons that we labeled with prices and set up in the store. I created task cards where students had to complete different challenges at the store. The task cards were split into two different levels to meet the needs of my students.
Level 1 Task Card Examples
- Choose 3 items from the store. What did you buy? What is the total cost of the items?
- Find the paper towels and the toilet paper. How much more does toilet paper cost than paper towels?
- How many items in the store cost greater than $15? What are they?
- You have $10 to spend. What items will you buy? What is the total cost for your items?
Level 2 Task Card Examples
- You have $32 to spend at the store. Put 6 different items in your basket whose total is less than $32. How much did you spend? How much money would you have leftover after you bought your items?
- Find a carton of eggs. How much is it? How many eggs come in the carton? What is the cost per egg?
- Find the cheapest item at the store. How much is it? If you paid for it with $5, how much change would you get?
This is an easy activity to set up at home also. Use play money to have children practice walking to a pretend register and buying the items. Once they are comfortable with buying and giving change, allow the child to purchase an item on their own from Target or the grocery store. Figuring out how to follow a budget, counting and giving the appropriate amount of money, and determining the best buy between two similar items are such important skills for children to have. Use this fun activity to help your child feel more comfortable with money!
Enrichment Therapy & Learning Center has locations in the Iowa City, IA area and Des Moines, IA area. We provide individual speech-language therapy and tutoring as well as offering small group academic programs. At Enrichment Therapy & Learning Center our passion is to help kids achieve effective communication skills and gain academic success. Contact us for more information on how we can help your child succeed.
info@enrichmenttherapies.com
740 Community Drive, Unit A
North Liberty, IA 52317
319-626-2553
infodm@enrichmenttherapies.com
5530 West Pkwy, Suite 300
Johnston, IA 50131
515-419-4270
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