UK Coins
Measure · Year 1–Year 5
1p to £2 at their real relative sizes. Totals in pounds and pence.
About the money
All eight UK coins, at their real relative sizes. A 2p really is bigger than a 10p, a 5p really is the smallest of the lot, and the 20p and 50p really are seven-sided. That is not decoration: it is exactly the thing children get wrong, and a set of same-sized discs with numbers on them teaches nothing about the coins in their hand.
That is the whole reason to use coins rather than counters. A set of same-sized discs with numbers on them teaches nothing about the money in a child's hand, and size is exactly what they get wrong.
Drag coins onto the mat and the total adds up in pounds and pence. It writes amounts the way a teacher would: forty-seven pence is 47p, not £0.47.
Use it for counting collections, for making the same amount in different ways, and for change. Tidy up groups the coins by value when the mat gets busy.
How to use it on your whiteboard
- 1Drag a coin from the tray onto the mat, or tap it to drop one on.
- 2Build an amount and read the total at the top of the tray.
- 3Drag coins into groups to compare two amounts, or to show change.
- 4Tap Tidy up to sort the coins by value.
- 5Select several coins with a drag around them to move or remove them together.
Questions
- Are the coins the right size relative to each other?
- Yes, to their real diameters. That matters, because a 2p being larger than a 10p is one of the first things children have to unlearn.
- Are notes included?
- Not yet. Coins first, since that is where most primary money work happens.
- How does it write the total?
- Pence up to 99p, then pounds and pence. So 47p, £1 and £3.05.