Money games

Money is one of the few bits of school maths children can see the point of straight away. These games follow the order it is usually taught: first recognising coins and adding them up, then paying an exact amount, then the harder skill of working out change. The coins are Australian (5c to $2, notes to $20), but the maths is the same everywhere and the pictures are clear enough that a child used to other coins will manage.

Start with Coin Counter for a five- or six-year-old — the amounts are small and the feedback is instant. Change Maker and Lemonade Stand are for seven and up, once subtraction is comfortable. Farm Day is the reward at the end: earn coins, buy seeds, grow a farm.

Our picks

• Coin Counter — feed the piggy an exact amount — go over and it spits everything back out; the gentlest start
• Lemonade Stand — squeeze, stir and serve the drink each friend asks for, then count the coins
• Change Maker — something costs a few dollars, you pay with a note — how much change?

What they practise

• Recognising coins and notes and knowing their values
• Adding mixed amounts — cents and dollars together
• Making an exact total, and doing it with the fewest coins
• Subtraction in a real setting: working out change
• Simple budgeting in Farm Day — spend coins now to earn more later

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