Hairy Money- Oh My!

In order to help students understand the value of different coins we use "Hairy Money".  We assign one strand of hair to represent a group of 5 in each coin. The more groups of 5 in a coin, the more hair.  For example, the nickel has one strand of hair (one group of 5) and the dime has 2 strands of hair (two groups of 5).  

Today we played a game that we like to call, Hairy Money Relay. Students worked in a small group and one at a time identified a coin and recorded how much hair (or the value) that coin has on the whiteboard.  The next person would get the marker and identify and record a different coin. Once everyone has had a turn, the game is over.  The team that finishes first and has all the correct amount of hair wins. 

We are a class that loves learning and playing!