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.
