Got Eggs?!?

Well, if you haven't turned the calendar to peek at April yet, you may have not noticed that Easter is 'springing' upon us quite quickly!  We are deep into money in second grade and are needing LOTS and LOTS of change counting practice....

I absolutely LOVE those plastic Easter eggs.  They are SO wonderful to use in the classroom for SO many different things!  Counting change is just perfect.

While I could have hidden the eggs all over the room to begin with, I decided to work up to that eggcitement closer to bunny day.  We started the first session of eggstra-special coin counting with eggs in a basket on our desks.  {I bought a ton of those little baskets years ago at Target in the dollar spot..... and haven't used them till NOW!  See, I did buy them for a reason, right?!}

 I had a recording sheet for the kids to write the amounts that were in each egg.  I have enough space in the boxes for students to draw the coins too {that's only good on the 6 and maybe 8 egg page}  I labelled the eggs with letters instead of numbers, just to eliminate number confusion if I use them for something else in the near future!

We repeated this a second day with different amount.  TIP:  Don't just take all the money out and think of a new amount.  Just add or take away a nickel... or a dime... or add a few pennies to each.  They will not remember how much the egg had the day before.  Trust me.  {Also, make sure you write down how much is in each! ;) }

The third day I mixed it up a little and had all the same eggs in a basket and "hid" the baskets {in plain eyesight} around the room.  Getting up to get the eggs was just what we needed on a Friday of a L.O.N.G. week!

Next week we'll be moving up to 8 and 10 eggs...  maybe.

One last TIP:  Make sure to stress the point of making sure they are putting ALL of the coins back into their eggs so that the next person doesn't get the wrong amount. Check under papers and desks for lost coins!

Click {HERE} for the worksheets to use to count money in your classroom too!  It's always great practice, no matter the age!  {and if your littles aren't ready for money, you could always use pennies to practice counting and just add in how you write a cent sign afterwards!  Bonus!}

I have so many other plans for these little eggs in other subject areas!  Check back soon for a new idea!  What are some ways you use eggs in your classroom??

PS-I'll be updating my first grade Easter Math games soon, as well as having a second grade one too! XOXO