Third graders are very excited about selling pretzels! Each year the third grade sells soft pretzels to supplement a special class trip to Philadelphia’s Chinatown. A big part of selling pretzels is counting coins and making change. Each pretzel costs 75 cents and shoppers pay for them with a variety of coins and bills, so third graders need to be comfortable mentally calculating the money they are given as well as the necessary change.
To prepare to sell pretzels, we began with a review of coins and coin values and talked about some of the basics of customer service. Students then practiced counting groups of coins in a variety of ways, including multiple games, such as Coin Bingo, Heads and Tails Sort and an activity
called, “I Have/ Who Has?” Third graders also practiced buying and selling pretzels to give each other practice both with making change and with important customer service skills such as friendly greetings and communication.
Counting coins would be a great skill to continue practicing at home. You can give your child a few coins and have them find the total, or you can have them find change for small amounts of money (under $1, $5 or $10).
There are also some fun online games to practice counting coins, including:
The first day of pretzel selling was a huge success! We sold pretzels in multiple spots, including inside the lower school, on the lower school playground, and to middle school students during their snack break.
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