I wanted to do something different for homeschool with my almost five and three year olds, so I devised an educational game for them to play together using our awesome little cash register. It teaches reading, colors, counting, and math skills. And it’s pretty fun too!
Setup: We used some large building blocks in a couple of different colors. You can use a variety of other small items to “sell” at the store. It’s more fun with a working cash register, but you could make one with a cardboard box. I wrote “prices” for each color on a dry-erase board.
Toddler #1 (almost 3 years old): I sent her on a shopping trip. She was told to pick up a certain number of different colored blocks. She placed them in her basket, before proceeding to the cash register and placing the items on the conveyor belt.
Toddler #2 (almost 5 years old): Goofball waited at the cash register. He scanned each item and placed them on the floor. He would read the price chart to find out the cost for each item. He was able to read the words because he knew each one was a color. We used little cotton balls to calculate the total for each order. He would count out balls for each block and then, add them up.
Bonus: Mr. Smith happened to be home and had some cash on him. He joined Tornado in shopping and actually paid Goofball with real money. We helped him count the money and even give back change.
We all joined in for this fun learning experience. Well, except for Trey who played with his new homemade exercise mat (next post). It went pretty smooth, except that we had to give Tornado an opportunity to use the cash register here and there, it is her toy after all. You could do this activity in a variety of different ways, but it was nice because it incorporated age-appropriate lessons for both toddlers.
This is Tornado’s cash register. It was her “big” present for our frugal Christmas. I searched high and low for one that was inexpensive, fun, and durable. Note: it takes C batteries, not D batteries. I will never forget the moment on Christmas morning when I realized that we had purchased the wrong type of batteries – big parenting fail. But we fixed our mistake the next day and now both of the kids love to play with it. The register still works great after six months of regular play. The conveyor belt moves and it beeps when you “scan” items through the sensors. The register makes lots of little sounds and plays songs. It comes with play food, money, and a credit card. The signature pad for the credit card doesn’t work too well, but the kids hardly ever use that part of the toy. This is a great little toy for the price and makes a great gift.
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