In a world where we use debit cards and gift cards most of the time, we often forget the importance of teaching children about money.

The thing is, if any of our children decide to have a job where they use a cash register, money skills are needed. Those who run their own business or become bankers are also working with money all of the time. There are many other jobs that require a solid base knowledge of money!

Learning about money teaches so many mathematical skills that children may not have interest in or understand without the use of money. So even if you still feel learning about money isn't that important, it may not be about the money at all!

Still, teaching about money can feel extremely overwhelming. There are SO MANY STEPS!

This is why I've created the Montessori-inspired Coins: Pennies Printable Pack. It starts with the most basic concepts and progresses from there. No step is skipped to ensure every child develops a solid understanding of every concept.(Intermediate and Advanced Money Bundles will be coming in the future!)

Here is a look at all of the fabulous penny activities for kids included!

Learning about money initiates such excitement in children. It's like treasure to them. They feel so grown up as they work with money, no matter how little the amount is.

Money is used in so many play scenarios. I remember playing store with my sisters growing up on a regular basis. Sunshine has forever wanted a cash register!

There wasn't a time that I wasn't trying to save every coin I had for something special as a child. Now, each of my children have piggy banks in their room. They do the same thing.

Before family vacations my mother would break open the piggy bank full of coins she'd collected doing laundry. We'd all sit around the table and count coins until there were no more. That was our spending money for our trip.

Montessori-inspired U.S. Coins: Pennies Printable Pack

All activities in this post are from the Montessori-inspired U.S. Coins: Pennies Printable Pack. This pack includes 108 pages of printables that help children master using the penny in every situation.

Penny Activities for Kids

Learning about money, even the penny, starts with identification and language skills. What does a penny look like? What is it called? How do you write the name?

Let's take a look at all that's included!

Penny Writing Strips

There are some kids that absolutely LOVE to write. To attract those children to money activities, I have included a set of writing strips. Besides penny writing strips, there are also ones that say one cent, and so much more!

P is for Penny Do-a-dot Page

For those that struggle to write and are still working on developing fine motor skills strong enough to write, there are beautiful do-a-dot pages included. Both uppercase and lowercase options are available, as well as the front and back of the penny. The dot sizes are created to match the size of a penny.

Penny vs. Not a Penny

Once a child feels confident in knowing what a penny is, this sorting activity can be introduced to challenge those skills. Cards in the green container include multiple coins to sort into two columns: penny and not a penny.

Which Coin is the Same?

To further challenge identification skills, kids can enjoy this activity. Which coin is the same as the one on the far left? Once identified the kids will place a penny on it.

This activity can be tricky as it includes coins that look similar from other countries. I grew up on the Canadian border. Canadian pennies were constantly mixed in with American ones. Lol.

Counting with Pennies

This activity was created to introduce counting with pennies and relating it back to counting in general. Each card includes a number and then the money amount associated with that number while working with pennies.

The object of the activity is to count out the number of pennies specified and place them in order in the boxes. Boxes were designed to fit each and every penny.

Counting Pennies Nomenclature Cards

Once a child knows how to count pennies and understands how to read cents or dollar signs with decimals, this activity provides even more practice.

These nomenclature cards can be used in a variety of ways, depending on the needs of your child. The pennies on the cards are life size, so a child can place real pennies over top of them while counting to keep their place.

Counting Pennies Clip Cards

These cards are designed just like the Counting Pennies Nomenclature Cards, but with answer choices at the bottom. The nomenclature cards are a great control for this activity if needed. The child counts the coins and then places a penny on the answer at the bottom.

Money and Decimals Penny Clip Cards

Money and Decimals Penny Counting Clip Cards

At some point, teaching decimals when learning about money is necessary. This activity helps with that concept. There is a beautiful money and decimals control provided, as well as a second set of clip cards focusing on decimal placement.

Hundred Board Using Pennies

For the ultimate counting activity, this hundred board is provided. It's a great way to practice counting to 100 with pennies and then teach that 100 pennies is equal to a dollar. Pennies do fit in each of the boxes.

Adding with Pennies Clip Cards

Counting pennies is one thing, but learning to add with them is a completely different skill. These cards are designed to help with that.

Sunshine absolutely loved this activity. She chose to use the pennies provided, laying them out on the table, exactly the way they looked on the card and then added them up. Your child may choose to do things differently. Once Sunshine had decided on an answer, she used the pennies to mark her card.

Subtracting with Pennies Clip Cards

I just love this subtraction activity! The child reads the problem and then covers the coins subtracted with the white glass beads to reveal the answer. The answer is then marked using a penny.

Multiplying Pennies Clip Cards

This activity is a basic multiplication clip card, but uses pennies for counters. The child uses pennies as counters to solve the problem and then marks answers using the green glass beads.

In printable packs that include the nickel, dime, and quarter, money values using cents and dollar signs are used to provide more challenge with the activity.