Coins and Notes is a first look at money: what money is, what we use it for, telling a coin from a note, and counting a few coins. Children don’t need to know what each coin is worth yet — that comes in Year 1.
What your child will learn
- Pick out money from other everyday things
- Know that we use money to buy things and keep it safe
- Tell a coin from a note
- Count up to 6 coins
Recognising before valuing
Four- and five-year-olds often think a bigger coin, or more coins, always means more money. That’s fine for now. Handling real coins, sorting them and playing shop builds the familiarity that makes values easier to learn later.
Example questions
Here are a few questions like the ones in the first quest. Can you solve them?
1. Where can we keep our coins safe?
- 🌳 tree
- 🐷 piggy bank
- 🗑️ bin
Show answer
Answer: 🐷 piggy bank. A piggy bank keeps coins safe until we need them.
2. Which one is money?
- 🧸 teddy
- 🪙 coin
- 🍃 leaf
Show answer
Answer: 🪙 coin. A coin is money. We can use it to buy things at the shop.
3. Where do we pay with money?
- 🛏️ bed
- 🛝 the slide
- 🏪 a shop
Show answer
Answer: 🏪 a shop. We pay with money at a shop, a market or a café.
Tips for grown-ups
- Let your child drop coins into a piggy bank and count them as they go in.
- Play shop with toys and a few real coins.
- Sort a handful of coins and notes into two piles.