Counting Money

Pay for each thing at the market stand. Count your coins and get it exactly right! For ages 7 to 9.

How hard?
For grown-ups

Your child runs to the market stand with a purse of play money. Each thing has a price tag, and the voice says it ("Apple. 37 cents."). Your child taps coins into the dish, and the voice says the total after every coin. When the dish holds exactly the price, the thing goes into the paper bag. Too much is fine: the voice says how many cents too many, and any coin in the dish taps back out.

A round is 8 things, then it stops on "All done" with the receipt. On Normal and Hard the round's total is how many things were paid with the fewest coins, and after each one the voice says if fewer coins would do. There is no timer, no saved best and nothing to buy for real.

Child lock: tap the lock at the top right. The ways out hide and the back button stays in the game. To unlock, hold the lock for 3 seconds and answer a sum.

Easy (age 7): pennies, nickels and dimes, prices up to 50¢. Normal (age 8): quarters too, up to 99¢. Hard (age 9): dollar bills too, from $1.01 to $3.00. On a computer, Tab and Enter pick a coin.

Evening look (dimmer and warmer)

Why it's good for your child, what they learn, and how we designed it

Free, no ads, no sign-in, and the money is pretend. We count plays without names or anything that identifies your child, and your child is never recorded. The coins, the bill and every picture are our own drawings: play money in real coin colors and sizes, not copies of real coins.

Why it's good for your child

Counting money is a real-life skill that second graders are expected to learn, and it is good math practice too: adding mixed values, counting on from the quarter or dime, and finding a total that fits exactly. Counting Money gives the practice in short shopping trips at a calm market stand, with a voice that says the total after every penny, nickel, dime or quarter. The line on the "All done" screen takes it to real pocket change at home or at the store, where talking together helps most (AAP, Zero to Three).

What they learn

The names and values of the penny, nickel, dime and quarter, counting a mix of them by counting on, and amounts to 99 cents and then dollars and cents with the cent sign and dollar sign. These match Common Core 2.MD.C.8 (solve problems with dollar bills, quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies) and 2.NBT.B.5 (add within 100). Normal and Hard add paying with the fewest pieces of money, a first step toward making change.

How we designed it for ages 7 to 9

For 7 to 9 year olds it plays like an arcade game, with a total for this round only (how many things were paid with the fewest pieces), as our big-kid rules allow. There is no timer, no saved best, no bonus for coming back and nothing to buy for real, because tricks that lengthen play are common in apps for children (Radesky 2022). Paying too much costs nothing: the voice says how much is in the dish and how many cents too many, any piece taps back out, and praise names what your child did (Mueller & Dweck 1998). The money buttons are big enough for one thumb at a table, and the Child lock keeps leaving and settings with you.

About the game

Counting Money is a free money game for kids in 1st to 3rd grade. A market stand sells everyday things with price tags, and your child pays with pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters and dollar bills. One clear voice says each price and the total in the dish after every coin, so your child practices counting on: a quarter, then 35, 45, 46, 47.

How a round goes

The stand shows one thing and its price. Your child taps coins from the purse into the dish. The total shows and is said after every coin. When the dish holds exactly the price, the thing goes into the bag and the voice says "Exactly right!" If a different mix of coins would be fewer, the voice says how many it could be. After 8 things the game stops on "All done" with the receipt.

Three levels

  • Easy, age 7: pennies, nickels and dimes, prices up to 50¢.
  • Normal, age 8: quarters too, prices up to 99¢, and paying with the fewest coins.
  • Hard, age 9: dollar bills too, prices from $1.01 to $3.00 written with a dollar sign.

More: Tell the Time for telling time, Multiplication for times tables, and 2nd grade games.

Questions parents ask

Is the counting money game free?

Yes. No sign-in, nothing to download or buy. It runs in the browser on phones, tablets and computers. The money in the game is pretend.

What ages and grades is it for?

Ages 7 to 9, around 1st to 3rd grade. Easy uses pennies, nickels and dimes up to 50 cents, Normal adds quarters up to 99 cents, and Hard adds dollar bills up to 3 dollars.

What happens if my child puts in too much?

Nothing is lost. The voice says how many cents too many, and any coin in the dish taps back out.

How long is a round?

8 things to buy, then the game stops on an All done screen with the receipt and a line for you to talk about together. Nothing starts by itself.