Make Believe Money
Here's What To Do
1
Ask your child if they'd like to play bus driver, restaurant, or store.
2
Set up your props. Examples:
- Bus: place chairs or pillows in a rectangle for the bus, use a plate for the steering wheel, use pretend or real money for the bus fare, use stuffed animals or dolls for the passengers
- Restaurant: draw a simple menu, set the table, use pretend or real money to pay, use an apron for the waiter to wear, use pretend food or blocks for food
- Store: use stuffed animals or dolls for the customers, gather items around the house to be 'sold' at the store, use pretend or real money to pay
3
Ask your child if they'd like to be the bus driver/waiter/shopkeeper, or if they'd like to be the customer. Role play the various jobs, and be sure to use money to pay for things.
4
Switch roles, or try different pretend jobs.
Put PEER Into Action
P
Pause:
- Do a silly dance to get in the mood to play pretend.
E
Engage:
- "Do you want to be the bus driver or a customer?"
- "Here you go sir, that chocolate cake will be $5. Can you please pay $5?"
E
Encourage:
- Don't worry about inventing elaborate stories to act out- you can just recreate everyday activities your child is familiar with. Your child will enjoy getting to do the grown-up jobs and pretending to use money.
- "Can you pretend you're the person helping us to check out and pay for our things? Let me remind you of all the things you do when you have that job."
R
Reflect:
- What did you use money for in our game? Do we use money to buy the same things in the real world?
Not quite ready?
Place yourself in the role of the "worker" and let your child interact with you.
Ready for more?
In pretend job scenarios, practice using real money so your child becomes familiar with money and counting.
As your child masters this skill...
They will know more about how money is used.