Rub a Dub Dub! Coin Rubbings! A Fun Way to Learn About Coins

Hi All,

This is a very simple hands-on activity that kids love. Provide the class with a pile of coins and/or ask them to gather some from home. Each student should also have some dark crayons like brown, blue, black, and purple.

Give each students some thin paper. Tracing paper is the best, but notebook paper and even white tissue paper also works. Have a student select a coin and place under the paper. Then using the crayon, rub it gently across the surface leaving an impression of the coin underneath. Gentle pressure provides a better image than pressing hard.

Kids enjoy the process and it focuses their attention on the attributes of the coins such as size, images, and words.

As students do their rubbings and are really focused on their coins have them also complete the attached coin chart pdf to help them solidify their coin identification skills. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1P3dBMXXsYqAJVlvai_3bi6WeKuni2M5g/view?usp=sharing

Try to provide as many different coins as possible. As an extension, you might even provide some foreign coins so kids can compare them with American coins. And as far as rubbings, think about what else might be easy to find and fun to use; buttons, paper clips, leaves, shells, it really is simple fun that focuses attention to detail! :)

All the best,

Bob

This is an activity I wrote for Best-Ever Activities for Grades 2-3: Time and Measurement by Deborah Rovin-Murphy and Frank Murphy (Scholastic Professional Books, 2002), two Bucks County, PA teachers.

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