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Monday, December 5, 2011

Postage Paid (a Coin Counting Activity)


For a little coin-counting practice, I created this fun activity for my son; not only did it work on money and numbers, but it taught him about the postal system too!

You should have seen his eyes light up when he saw our homemade post office box. He was SO curious to see how we’d be using it in our activity, he barely suffered through the book we read.

I have lost count of the number of books we’ve read by Gail Gibbons. Her book The Post Office Book: Mail and How it Moves didn’t disappoint. Like the other non-fiction gems she’s penned, this book simplified a complex subject in a way my son could grasp. He loved seeing all the ways the mail moves from its origination to its destination – including the historical references to the Pony Express.


When we were done with Gibbons’ book, I gave him:
  • A dozen oversized and laminated stamps I had made (truthfully, I made twice this many but we only used half)
  • 12 envelopes filled with coins.
  • The DIY post office box.

Download a 2-page PDF of the oversized stamps I made here.
His task was simple: open each envelope, empty the coins, count them, and find the stamp with the same amount of cents written on it (I used a fine-tip dry-erase marker to write the amounts on each). After he’d bought his stamp, he set the coins aside. He stuck the stamp to the envelope (there were Velcro dots on each) and “mailed” the envelope.


Because the stamps are laminated, I can easily wipe away the old amounts and write new ones on. Using the velcro dots is another way to make this activity reusable.

This was GREAT practice counting money and my son loved it. Once all 12 envelopes were mailed, he even counted the number of each type of coin he had “spent” on stamps.

10 comments:

  1. This amazing!! LOVE this activity! You are amazingly creative =-)
    Beth

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  2. What a fun activity! Very creatively put together, too!

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  3. I just pinned this on TWO of my boards ;) This is awesome!! And, this would be perfect for my Thrifty Thursday Linky this week!

    I wanted to let you know that I have been really enjoying your blog, which is why I am passing along a blogging award to you ;) I know you already received it, so I actually used you as a "bonus" nomination, because I really think people should check out your blog! http://www.playingwithwords365.com/2011/12/my-first-blog-award/

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  4. What a creative idea! This is great. I want to invite you to link up at a new linky I started for bloggers who have {Free} Printables. I was talking with a friend in our home learner group who is looking for blogs with great printables, so I told her I would start a linky to help her out. Please consider linking up @ http://www.raisingthecameronclan.com/homeschooling/2011/12/06/introducing-free-printables-linky-party/

    Thanks so much for sharing your creativity.
    Aimee

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  5. Thanks for linking up! I love your blog by the way.
    Thanks again,
    Aimee (Mommy Cameron | Raising the Cameron Clan)

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  6. Thanks so much for linking this up at Thrifty Thursday!! :D

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  7. I just wanted to let you know I featured this at this week's linky party - http://livinglifeintentionally.blogspot.com/2011/12/tgif-linky-party-9.html - So pop on over, grab your Featured Button & don't forget to link up this week!! Thanks again for sharing your creativity with the rest of us!!
    Beth =-)

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  8. This is wonderful, thanks for sharing! We have the Melissa and Doug play mailbox, I bet I could use that with your printable stamps. =)

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  9. What a wonderful idea for an activity! Thanks for sharing!

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