Play shop with coins

Ages 3 to 5 Read and do together · about 15 minutes

Read together

Let us play shop. This costs one coin.

I give you a coin. You give me the apple.

Do it

1. Set up a pretend shop with toys or food and paper tags that say 1, 2 or 3.
2. Make play coins from cardboard circles. Use toy coins, not real ones.
3. Take turns being the shopkeeper and the buyer. Count coins out loud.
4. Talk about asking nicely and saying thank you.

Talk about it

• How many coins for the apple?
• How many do you have left?

For the grown-up

Play shop makes counting and trading real. Keep real coins away from small children, because they are a choking and swallowing risk.

Mark as done

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Where this comes from

This is a play and practice activity with no factual claims to source.

Written with AI assistance and checked against the sources listed. Please read it before sharing it with a child.