To do: Go to the Farmer’s Market and practice skip counting, money math and reading a shopping list
Time: 15 minutes
Materials: Shopping list, reusable shopping bag and cash to count
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There are so many opportunities for your child to practice numeracy at the farmer’s market! Try incorporating counting and simple addition/subtraction into any situation. Here are a few ideas to get started:

At home: Depending on your child, their age, and comfort level with skip counting (5,10,15,20), you can cater coin counting to their ability level:

For a younger child who is just learning to count, simply count how many coins total you have. Or, count by type, “How many dimes do we have? 1,2,3…”
For a child practicing skip counting, use coins to practice. “Let’s count how many cents we have in this pile of nickels. 5 cents, 10 cents…”

At the market: Practice counting when you’re actually at the market with these ideas!

Hold your shopping back open, and ask your child to count 5 tomatoes and place them in the bag. Or, if you’re just gazing at items but don’t need to purchase anything, try starting a conversation! “Wow! There are so many watermelons here! How many do you think there are?”
While making your shopping list, write in big clear numbers and ask your child to read it once you get to the market. Start your list with the number for clarity: 5 tomatoes, 3 cucumbers, 1 onion, etc.
Your child can be in charge of asking the vender how much your products costs, and count out the bills. 1 dollar, 2 dollars, 3 dollars…Help them along the way if they get stuck!

Materials: For coin counting, gather any coins you have lying around and sort them by type (dimes in one pile, etc).

What your child will learn: You can practice counting and numeracy anywhere, but coins are especially helpful. Children are drawn to them, they are easy and fun to collect, and useful to have knowledge of when trying to purchase something! If the concept of coins is too advanced, start counting practice using buttons or beads.

For your older child: If your child is working on simple addition, practice adding coins together. “I have one nickel and one dime. A nickel is worth 5 cents, and a dime is worth 10 cents. What is 5 plus 10?” Additionally, allow your older child to be in charge of the money while at the market. They will enjoy the extra responsibility, and can practicing adding the bills and coins to get your total.

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