Kindergarten Financial Literacy: Little Shoppers

Your students become money detectives in this engaging seven-lesson unit that builds understanding of Canadian currency and early financial decision-making. Through hands-on activities—sorting coins by attributes, doing coin rubbings to discover hidden symbols (the beaver on the nickel, the ship on the dime, the caribou on the quarter), and building towers of blocks to explore coin value—children develop concrete number sense while learning to identify and compare coins and bills up to $10.

The unit progresses naturally from recognition to real-world application. Your students explore the concept of "needs versus wants" through sorting activities and role-play, learn about saving versus spending using a classroom "Growing Jar," and culminate with the Grand Market—an exciting dramatic play center where they make independent purchasing decisions using play money. Throughout, children count, compare, and practice the language of money in meaningful contexts that connect to their lives.

Included are seven detailed lesson plans with minds-on hooks, hands-on actions, and consolidation discussions, plus 15+ student worksheets, formative and summative assessment tools, and ready-to-print play money and market labels. A perfect way to make financial literacy playful and concrete for young learners.