Educational Games That Teach Math and Coin Fundamentals
I am always on the lookout for ways to combine fun and education. Educational games are a great way for children to enjoy learning! We know the value of educational games because we play them with our own children, and we want to help make it easy for you to find fun educational games for your family too. One source of educational games that you may not know about is the US Mint. Yes, the US Mint creates educational games, and they just released a new one! It’s called Counting with Coins.
Don’t You Love Their Name?
H.I.P. Pocket Change is a site that’s dedicated to teaching about coinage in a fun and informative way. It started back in 1997 when President Clinton asked federal agencies to create resources that could “enrich the Internet as a tool for teaching and learning.” In response, agencies joined forces to form the Federal Resources for Educational Excellence (FREE) Working Group (which retired in 2015). Federal Resources for Educational Excellence, which was maintained by the U.S. Department of Education, offered a way to find digital teaching and learning resources created and maintained by the federal government and public and private organizations.
FREE also provided grants for finding ways to help teachers and federal agencies work together. In 1998, the United States Mint was awarded one of those grants. It created the H.I.P. Pocket Change Website to create educational games. They incorporate seven coin-loving animals who wanted to learn more about coins and share that knowledge with you. The H.I.P. Pocket Change Pals are your coin currency dream team!
Counting with Coins is one of six new games on the bureau’s H.I.P. Pocket Change website for children and educators. This game teaches basic math concepts and coin identification using a fun grocery store setting and lots of animation!
Other games include:
- Hoop and Darts – a challenging game rooted in Native American traditions which allows players to choose different settings and play modes
- Plinky’s Presidential Challenge – a fun trivia game to learn the order of the U.S. presidents
- Coin Memory Match – a classic matching game using the coins of the America the Beautiful Quarters® Program, which features U.S. national parks
- Making Change – an art game where users can design their own coins while learning about coin terminology
- Peter the Eagle’s Coin Drop – a fun flying game where players deliver liberty loans by flying a WWI-era plane
United States Mint
Congress created the United States Mint in 1792. The Mint became part of the Department of the Treasury in 1873. It is the United States’ only manufacturer of legal tender coinage. It is responsible for producing and circulating coinage for the United States to conduct its trade and commerce.
Other Ways to Teach About Coins
Trish, at first I thought all of the games were going to be too easy for my kids. But, once I checked out the site, I realized that some of the games could be great additions to our history studies, especially the Presidential Challenge! Thanks for sharing such a great fun, FREE resource!