Activity: Counting to 100 using pennies and craft paper

As part of 100 days of school and Kindness Week, my son’s class was asked to count out 100 pennies to bring for donation to a local foundation.  I LOVE this idea.  Not only is it a great way to be kind, but it was a chance for us to talk about numbers and counting.

First, I set out craft paper on the dining table.  The kids started by drawing on it and having fun with it.

Then, I drew 10 circles and marked x10 in each.

My son was tasked with counting out 10 pennies at a time and putting them in a circle.

Once he completed all the circles, we talked about counting by 10s, how many pennies there were in total and so on.  He seemed to really enjoy it!

Add on: While he was doing that, my daughter was counting (trying) nickels into 5 circles marked x4 in each. When everyone’s money was sorted, we talked about which pile (the 10×10 pennies or the 5×4 nickels) had more value.  My son picked the pennies (there are more pennies afterall!) but then we talked about how many pennies are in a nickel etc.

It was a great activity! When it was all done, he had a bag of pennies for donation.