Spare Change + Kids = Spare Time

Know that jar of spare change on your dresser? It’s time it started earning not only interest, but productivity time for you. And when you’re a parent working from home, you need all the productivity time you can get!

We all know that time is money. But, in this case, money is time. Those dimes, nickels, quarters and even pennies are valuable! Not only collectively, but because they can be used to occupy your kids. How? Have your kids roll the coins and give them a percentage of the total. If your kids are like mine, they’ll jump at the chance to earn money!

Not only will this activity give you time to check your email, make some calls or do some other task, it will help your kids with their math skills. To maximize learning, have your kids:

• Sort the coins by type to promote categorization skills (i.e., quarters, dimes, nickels)
• Group each type of coin into dollars (i.e., 4 quarters = $1, 10 dimes = $1)
• Write down how many coins of each type equal one dollar
• Roll the coins in order from pennies to quarters to promote sequencing skills
• Count how much money they rolled
• Calculate what 1%, 5%, and 10% of the sum equals

I highly recommend you wait until they have shared with you the sum of money they rolled, and what each percentage is worth, before you tell them what percentage they’ll earn. It’s tough to judge how much money is really in those coin jars!

You can then make your weekly trip to the bank. What once felt like an errand for your kids will feel like a fun excursion for them to collect their earnings.

If you want more productivity time, I recommend getting the State Series Quarters Collector Map. This educational tool not only provides your kids a place to put each state quarter, but teaches them a little bit about each state. My kids love inspecting each quarter to see which state it is from and then displaying it on the map.

For another fun activity for kids that can be a chore for parents, check out You Too Have a Live in Chef!