How to Teach Making Change to Your Child

By the Practice Buds team · October 21, 2026

Short answer

Making change means finding how much money comes back after you pay with more than something costs. The easiest method for kids is counting up: start at the price and add coins until you reach the amount you handed over. Practice it with real coins at home, then move to printable making change worksheets once your child can count up smoothly.

Why kids find this hard

Making change asks for two skills at once. Your child has to know the coin values cold, and then has to decide what to do with them. Most 2nd graders can count a pile of coins. Fewer can work backward from a price.

The other snag is that the usual school method, subtraction, is the hard way. Taking 65 from 100 means regrouping across a zero, and that is where many children stall. Shopkeepers have always counted up instead, and it works because it only needs adding in small jumps: to the next nickel, the next dime, the next dollar.

Children also tend to treat money as a pile of numbers rather than amounts they can feel. If your child cannot say that a quarter is worth the same as two dimes and a nickel, counting up will feel like guessing. That is why counting money comes first.

How to teach it

You need a handful of pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters, plus a few small price tags written on sticky notes. Keep each session to about 10 minutes.

  1. Check the coin values first. Ask your child to show you 25 cents three different ways, such as one quarter, two dimes and a nickel, or five nickels.
  2. Set a price on a sticky note, such as 65 cents, and say, "You hand me one dollar. I need to give change."
  3. Put the price coins on the table, or just say the price out loud. Start there. This is the starting number.
  4. Count up to the next nickel or dime. From 65, add 5 to reach 70. Place a nickel down and say "70" as you do.
  5. Keep adding coins and saying the running total until you reach 100. From 70, add a quarter to reach 95, then a nickel to reach 100.
  6. Look at the coins you put down. Those coins are the change. Add them up: 5 + 25 + 5 = 35.
  7. Check with subtraction. If 100 − 65 = 35, then the change is right. Do this last, as a check, never as the first move.
  8. Swap roles. Let your child be the cashier and you be the customer, and make an occasional mistake for them to catch.

Worked example

Say an eraser costs 65 cents and you hand over a dollar bill, which is 100 cents.

Step 1: Start at the price, 65.

Step 2: Count up to the next friendly number. 65 + 5 = 70, so the first coin is a nickel.

Step 3: From 70, a quarter takes you to 95. So 70 + 25 = 95, and the second coin is a quarter.

Step 4: From 95, one more nickel reaches 100. So 95 + 5 = 100.

Step 5: Add up the coins you handed back: 5 + 25 + 5 = 35. That is 35 cents in change.

Step 6: Check by subtraction: 100 − 65 = 35. Both methods agree.

A cashier would often use a dime and a quarter instead, since 10 + 25 = 35. Both are correct. Show your child that there is more than one right handful of coins.

Common mistakes

Adding the price to the payment. Your child hears "65 and 100" and writes 165. Spot it when the change is bigger than what was paid. Fix it by asking, "Should you get back more than you gave?" and going back to the coins.

Stopping the count at the wrong total. Your child counts 65, 70, 95 and then says "30" because they forgot the last nickel. Spot it when the coins on the table do not reach the payment. Fix it by having them say the running total out loud after each coin, ending on 100.

Counting the price coins as change. Your child hands back the coins that made up the 65. Spot it when the change looks too big. Fix it by keeping the price out of the way, for example under a cup, while counting up.

Mixing up cents and dollars. Your child writes 35 where 35 cents belongs, or reads a quarter as 25 dollars. Spot it when the answer does not make sense for the item. Fix it by always saying the unit aloud, "35 cents," and by practicing writing money amounts with the cent sign and decimal point.

Practice ladder

First (2nd grade, weeks 1 and 2): Count up from a price to the next 10 cents, using only pennies and nickels. For example, 47 + 3 = 50.

Next (2nd grade, weeks 3 and 4): Change from one dollar, with prices that end in 5 or 0, such as 75 and 40. Use real coins on the table.

Then (late 2nd to 3rd grade): Prices that end in odd digits, like 63 or 88, and change from five dollars. Start writing the count-up on paper without coins.

Later (3rd grade): Shopping stories with two or more items, where your child adds the prices first and then makes change. Money word problems give them plenty of those, and the money worksheets hub has the full set.

FAQ

Should my child learn to count up or to subtract? Teach counting up first. It is easier to see and easier to check. Subtraction makes a good second method once your child is comfortable with regrouping.

Does my child need to use the fewest coins? Not at first. Any correct set of coins is a good answer. You can add the "fewest coins" game later, once the idea is solid.

Why does my child get it right with coins but wrong on paper? On paper there are no coins to hold, so the running total has to live in their head. Have them draw a quick number line with jumps, or write each jump as a small step.

How do I practice when we do not use cash much? Use play money, or a jar of real coins, and run a pretend store at home. Even five minutes with price tags beats a long worksheet session.

Practice at home

Short, regular practice with coins works best. Printing needs a free account.

Start with making change worksheets, review the basics with counting money practice, and browse the whole money worksheets topic.