International Currency
In addition to providing children with pretend American money to play with, wouldn’t it be cool if you also had money from other countries for children to explore? I like to think about all of the interesting ways we can support each family’s background (language, artifacts, food, festivals) why not currency?
I only found one set of international currency available for purchase on the Internet, but I have to think that there are more out there. The one I found is from Great Britain, which wouldn’t be my first choice, but might be an interesting way to start a collection.
You might create activities that have children compare and contrast American money with British money. Introduce the symbols ($, ¢, £) and have them search for them on the bills. Explore the people whose faces appear on the bills and discuss the difference between a President and a Queen. Have children trade the money and then sort it and categorize it. The ideas are endless.