{Play Money: The Way to Learn}

My 7 year old has had old scraps of handwritten makeshift play money for a long time, and although it works, it could be better. When she's playing store, or paying her vet bill, or shopping at the pet store, she really should be counting out something close to real money. You know...playing and learning. It's how we roll around here, so I can't believe I haven't made these earlier. I think I printed out some generic bills a few years ago on green cardstock, but let's just say....uck. Not the ideal.

So I did some searching and found these wonderful printables at Money Instructor. You can download $1's, $5's, $10's, and $20's. They look very real, but are smaller in size than the real thing.

$1 Bills-Play Money

$5 Bills-Play Money

$10 Bills-Play Money

$20 Bills-Play Money

$50 Bills-Play Money
 I printed several copies of each on white cardstock and cut them out.
(I use Georgia-Pacific cardstock from Wal-mart for general projects.)

Then I sealed them up with clear laminate (from a roll) for durability, and cut them out again. Rolling over the laminate with a brayer (or rolling pin) really helps get the bubbles out quickly.

 They are durable and very authentic...perfect for learning while playing.

  Wouldn't it be nice if these were real?
Have fun pretend shopping (and counting) with your kiddos!

Take care,

Linking up at:

{USA Puzzle}

Hi there and we're back! Great visit to the great state of Tennessee. Lots of swimming, nature walks, and visits with Grandma. We're heading North in a few days, for a few days, but I wanted to post this quick map activity we did last week.

SUPER easy puzzle for any maps you want to work on!

We're working on naming and placing the continents, as well as identifying the United States on a map. We're doing other stats like number of states, north-south-east-west, the US flag and what it means, and identifying/naming the President and Vice President.

I found EXCELLENT blank outlines of continents, countries, and states over here , 

and couldn't stop printing.

I printed one of each continent, as well as the US on white cardstock, then "laminated" them with clear 

 contact paper.

For the US, I then did varied cuts from the bottom to top of the map to create my own puzzle.

We store them in a 5x7 manilla envelope, along with the Hawaii and Alaska. She just has to place them near there real location when she does the puzzle.

We're going to do the continents as well when we return. I made extra copies of each and laminated those, too...just for reference. Once we get back, we'll probably use that copy to outline our own state and locate familiar states (like where Disney World is, or Grandma's house) using a wipe-off marker.

Fun little geography activity that you works on-the-go, too.

Thanks for stopping by!