Adding money and giving change
Find different combinations of coins that equal the same amount of money
Lesson
Set out your lesson
“Adding money and giving change here means making the same amount with different coin combinations—for example 25¢ as one quarter or as two dimes and a nickel. We will build one amount two ways, check the totals match, then try a fresh amount.”
Bring to the table
- Play coins or labeled paper coin slips (1¢, 5¢, 10¢, 25¢; parent keeps tiny coins away from mouths)
- Paper and pencil for recording totals
Extra for the adult
Worked example. 25¢ = 1 quarter = 2 dimes + 1 nickel. Different coins can name the same amount when the values add to the same total.
Optional challenge. For Adding money and giving change, find three combinations for 40¢ and explain which used the fewest coins. Optional: tell a short “snack shop” story that needs two ways to pay.
What to notice. Keep one parent note: target amounts; coin combinations; “same amount” language; support used. A photo of coins alone does not show the matching talk. This session samples a few amounts, not mastery of every coin set.
Share and support
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Teaching approaches
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2 approaches
Adding money and giving change here means making the same amount with different coin combinations—for example 25¢ as one quarter or as two dimes and a nickel. We will build one amount two ways, check the totals match, then try a fresh amount.
Spend about 12 minutes finding different coin combinations for the same amount, recording each set, then checking a new target amount.
Build equal money totals with different coin combinations systematically.
Build equal money totals with different coin combinations systematically.
Family records and proof options
Keep a record of your learning
Save photos, notes, and attendance. Export a proof packet for compliance or portfolio reviews.
Learning resources
Extra practice links — they do not replace Gakuva’s teaching approach.
Illustrative Mathematics · Practice link — not the full lesson
Alexander, Who Used to be Rich Last Sunday
Before you open · source notes
Alexander money story supports adding money and tracking spending. Not every interest rate.
Free, no sign-in. A teacher solution is on the same page, so use the student view with your child.
Before you openAsk the learner to total money spent and say how much is left.
Opening this link does not save learning or assess mastery.
Source, access and review notes
Public Illustrative Mathematics task page. The .html address responds HTTP 308 to this URL. An anonymous GET of this URL on 2026-11-12 returned HTTP 200 with no login or payment prompt. Where a teacher solution is present, it is on the same page as the student task; this check did not find a separate locked student view. An adult can use the student view section and should not read a solution aloud. Advertising was not observed in the fetched HTML text; that is not a browser, device, or ad-free guarantee. This is a paper or discussion task, not an automatically marked interactive game. Opening the link does not save practice or assess mastery. Diagrams on the page use missing or filename-only alt text, so they are not an accessible image equivalent. Accessibility still depends on an adult describing the picture.
Illustrative Mathematics. “Alexander, Who Used to be Rich Last Sunday.” Licensed CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. External task; Gakuva does not copy, host, embed, or redistribute it.
CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 — link only
Check understanding
- Show that 50p can be made with 2×20p + 1×10p, or 5×10p, or 1×50p
- Systematically find multiple coin combinations for a given total
- Explain why different coin sets give the same total
“If your child needs to make exactly 30p, can they find two or three different ways to do it using different combinations of coins?”
Curriculum record
- Type
- Procedural
- Subject
- Mathematics
- Domain
- Measurement
- Age range
- Ages 6–9
Standards