Sort & Save Sums

Using coins to develop numeracy skills is such a fun way to combine role play and learning!

We were kindly gifted a Teaching ATM Bank by Learning Resources which we used for this activity. This post contains affiliate links.

What you need:
- coins (we just used 1 cent coins)
- muffin tin
- writing tool (we used our white Wonder Stix as it rubs right off)
- mini whiteboard and dry erase marker (you could just use pencil and paper)
- Teaching ATM Bank by Learning Resources

How it works:
I set up a table with all of the materials to make it into a little numeracy station. I wrote a number from 1-5 on the bottom of each muffin tin slot using the white Wonder Stix.

The first part of the activity involved my son counting the correct number of coins into each muffin tin slot. Good for counting skills, and of course fine motor development.

Now it was time to do some coin sums. My son chose coins from two muffin tin slots and counted them out on the mini whiteboard.

He then wrote down the sum on the mini whiteboard.

His challenge was to answer the sum. To begin with he relied on counting the coins, but he soon got more confident and didn't need to count. Once he had an answer, I encouraged him to write it down to help him practice his number formation.

Then came his favorite part. If he got the answer correct, he was allowed to deposit his coins into the ATM Bank!

He thought this was super cool and he got so excited to keep a running total of his savings! Each time he added a coin, the display updated immediately and the savings were added to the ATM card. Cool right?!

He thought he was pretty darn cool saving a grand total of $0.33!!

This could be done in many different ways, with older children being able to explore using different coin values. I left the set up out for 22 month old baby sis to explore, with supervision of course. She was more than happy sorting the coins into the muffin tin slots, and she couldn't get enough of filling up her savings account with all 33 coins!