Make Change with Coins — Money Word Problems (Grade 2)

About this activity

Something costs 70 cents and you pay one dollar — children give back the right change, here 30 cents as a quarter and a nickel, by tapping coins into the tray. Working out the difference and building it from pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters joins subtraction with hands-on coin counting, in a free, interactive Grade 2 money activity that plays right in the browser with no install and no account.

The big idea is that change is the difference between what was paid and what something costs. Children first work out how much is owed, then build that amount from coins they choose — pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters — which joins subtraction with hands-on coin counting. Because the value is not written on each coin, they have to know what each one is worth and count up to the change they owe.

It is aligned to Common Core 2.MD.C.8 — solving money word problems with dollars, quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies, using the ¢ and $ symbols. No timer, no score — just calm, playful practice.

What's inside this activity

• Designed for Grade 2 learners (ages about 7–8)
• Common Core strand: Measurement & Data
• Aligned to Common Core standard 2.MD.C.8

How to play

Read what the item costs and what you pay, such as it costs 85 cents and you pay one dollar.

Work out the change, then tap coins into the tray to give back the right amount.

Not quite? Adjust the coins and try again — there is no timer and no score.

What your child practices

• Find the change owed as the difference between paid and cost
• Build a change amount from pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters
• Connect subtraction with counting real coins
• Count up from the price to the amount paid

Learning goals

Make change with coins in money word problems — the focus of Common Core 2.MD.C.8

Understand change as the difference between cost and amount paid

Strengthen subtraction and coin-counting together with ¢ and $