In Australia, summer runs from December to February. It is the long school holiday, and a trip to the beach often ends at the kiosk or ice cream shop for an ice block, a cone or a thickshake. These pages suit the last weeks of the school year and the first weeks back.
Five pages at a beach ice cream shop, with one price list on every page. On page 1 children count the coins that pay for an ice block, a cone or a slice of watermelon, starting with the coin worth the most, and write the price in cents. Page 2 adds the prices of two things, so most totals go over $1 and are written as $1.15. Page 3 counts notes and coins for a milkshake, a slice of pavlova or a box of ice blocks and writes the price in dollars and cents. On page 4 children pay with a $5 note: they count on from the price to the next dollar, then on to $5, and write the change. Page 5 is six word problems about the shop: totals, change from $5 and $10, and how much more one thing costs. The first problem on pages 1 to 4 is worked as an example. Every price is a multiple of 5c, as Australia has had no 1c or 2c coins since 1992.
Set up a class ice cream shop with the prices from the pages and play money, and let children take turns as the shopkeeper. Before page 4, act out paying with a $5 note: the shopkeeper counts the change into the buyer's hand, starting from the price. Read the word problems aloud together and ask children to say what they need to find before they work it out.
Next time you buy an ice block or an ice cream, let your child count out the coins, starting with the biggest. Ask how much change you should get from $5 and count it on together. At home, write prices on a few things and play shop with real coins.
Australian money practice at a beach ice cream shop in the summer holidays, with ice blocks, cones, milkshakes and pavlova. Children count coins and notes, add two prices, count on from a price to $5 to give change, and solve shop word problems in dollars and cents.
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