Toy Money: 2 Great Value Options
Educational Kids Toys Can teach valuable money lessons
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“Play gives children a chance to practice what they are learning.”
-Mr. Rogers
We talk all the time about the importance of play in learning for our kids. When it comes to teaching about bills and coins though, sometimes we just don’t have cash lying around for them to play with!
In our experience, we would wind up resorting to trying to find bills hidden in board games or under couch cushions in order to adequately do things like fill piggy banks, give allowance (when we didn’t have the cash immediately), or try to teach money lessons. It seemed we would often struggle to find the right amount to do so.
Finally, we decided to go looking for a few play money sets and immediately realized there are a ton of them out there. It was hard for us to pick the right one and to be honest we ordered a few at first that did not seem to be realistic or super impressive.
Below we wanted to quickly share a couple sets that we found to be good value for bills and coins (ie. we didn’t consider items that included other materials like credit cards or a cash registers). These two options could be great aids to teach valuable money lessons to kids and they helped us to solve the key problem of trying to have bills and coins on hand at all times. If there are any you have used that you found to be great options, we would love to hear about it in the comments below or shoot us a note here.
Learning Resources Pretend Play Money
Age Range: 3 years and up
Manufacturer: Learning Resources
Our Take: What we liked about this option was the quality of the materials and the set. The money looks and feels very real so kids can really learn accurately. The paper bills are sturdy and easy to play with and the coins are thick and are great for little fingers to use.
The set can also be a great tool to use in homeschooling if that is something that applies to your family (they fit perfectly in a sandwich bag to keep them all together).
The only two drawbacks we found were that the product does not include $50 or $100 bills and we also did find that we felt like we needed to order more than one pack to get more coins for teaching. Overall though, we found this to be a great product for teaching concepts like counting and identifying.
Product Details: The play money is a 3/4 scale of actual American Dollars. Includes 150 total pieces with 60 pretend bills (including 20 $1s, 20 $5s, 10 $10s, and 10 $20s) as well as 90 plastic coins (including 30 pennies, 20 nickels, 20 dimes, and 20 quarters).
Pretend bills measure 6.25" x 2.625" and pretend coins range from .80" (penny) - .995" (quarter). This set of play money also works with other Learning Resources money toys such as the Pretend & Play Teaching ATM Bank and the Pretend & Play Calculator Cash Register.
Melissa & Doug Play Money Set
Age: 3+
Manufacturer: Melissa & Doug
Our Take: This product was one we liked a lot especially the fact that it came with a wooden cash drawer box to hold the coins and bills. We found the product to be of high quality, and each piece of the set was made with sturdy and durable materials.
The money itself resembles real money although if you look even with a discerning eye you can tell it’s not real (the back, for example, says “In Toys We Trust” vs. "In God We Trust”). However, for the amount of pieces (500) as well as price, we still found it to offer exceptional quality and value. The only other nitpick we had was we wish the wooden cash drawer box came with it lid as it would be easier to take it in the car with us.
Overall though, we loved the product and it was a great aid in helping teach money lessons!
Product Details: The Melissa & Doug Classic Play Money Set includes 500 total pieces and 50 of each denomination (50 singles, 50 five dollar bills, 50 ten dollar bills, 50 twenty dollar bills, 50 fifty dollar bills, 50 one hundred dollar bills, 50 half-dollar coins, 50 quarters, 50 dimes, 50 nickels, and 50 pennies).
The bills and coins come with a wooden cash drawer box that features money compartments printed with each denomination, which makes storage and cleanup simple and fun.
