Money is how people trade. Instead of swapping your toy for a snack, you use coins and dollars — everyone agrees what they're worth.
People get money by doing helpful things: baking bread, fixing cars, teaching kids. Helping others is how earning works.
Money can do three things: you can spend it, save it, or share it.
An allowance is money a grown-up gives you to use. Spending means using money to buy something, like a coloring book. Saving means keeping money to use later. Sharing means giving some of your money to help someone else.
A piggy bank is a container where you can keep money. Saving means keeping money to use later, like for a big toy. Spending means using money to buy something. Sharing means giving some of your money to help someone else.
You, think about a helpful chore you can do at home, like putting away your toys. Doing that job could be your first step to earning money!
Learning objective
Use pretend money to make a fair trade and count what remains.
Understand the mechanism
Money lets us trade without swapping one thing for another. A shop puts a price on a snack, and you decide whether to spend your money on it.
Money is limited. Buying one thing means having less for another thing. A grown-up can help you count and choose.
Put it to work
Use paper coins rather than real online purchases. Take turns being the customer and the shopkeeper. Say the price, count the payment and count change together.
Worked example
- 1
You start with four pretend dollars.
- 2
An apple costs one dollar. Give one to the shopkeeper.
- 3
You have three dollars left. Count: one spent plus three left equals four.
A trade changes who has the money; it does not make extra money.
Your practice lab
You have $5 and spend $2. Count what remains with a grown-up.
Personal scratchpad · not graded or saved
Maya's Helpful Hands
Maya wanted a new kite. Instead of just asking for it, she decided to earn the money herself. She saw her dad's car was dirty, so she offered to help wash it. Helping her dad was a useful job.
Her dad was so happy with the clean car that he gave her some dollars as a thank you. Maya had earned her own money! She took her dollars to the store and bought the kite. This is called 'spending'.
She even had one dollar left over. She put it in her jar to 'save' for later. Earning money by being helpful allowed Maya to make a choice to spend and save.
By doing a helpful job, Maya earned money and was able to make choices about what to do with it.
Draw a picture of one helpful thing you can do to earn money. It could be feeding a pet, watering plants, or helping set the table.
Example: A drawing of me putting my toys away neatly in the toy box.
More to explore (with a grown-up)
- PBS Kids — learning hub · PBS Kids
- MyMoney.gov — learning hub · MyMoney.gov
Remember
- ✦Money helps people trade
- ✦We earn money by helping others
- ✦Spend, save, or share
🎯 Try it: Find three coins. Can you name each one and how much it's worth?
Quick quiz
How do people earn money?
Which is NOT something money can do?
What is money used for?
Which of these are types of money?
If you use your allowance to buy a new coloring book, what are you doing with your money?
Putting money in a piggy bank to buy a big toy later is an example of...