Pennies for your thoughts!

Here is a simple little activity to help your children learn how to do word problems, and how to work with money. Here's how it works:

Simply search your purse for loose change (pennies would be preferred). Then create a word problem such as "if I give you 5 pennies, and you give 2 back to me, how many pennies do you have left?"

You could also get more complex and say "Max works for 3 days. He earns 5 pennies on the first day, 3 pennies on the second day, and 8 pennies on the third day. How much money did Max have after 3 days? After two days?"

Easy as that! All it takes is a little time and creativity, and only a temporary use of money.