A wealth of beneficial skills are developed when children practise realistic money scenarios. For a start, buyers will need to patiently wait in line, browse and choose from the items, and interact with the cashier. A bucket balance is supplied to introduce the concept of weighing produce, as you would in a real grocery shop. Cashiers can then use the large keypad on the register to process transactions, reinforcing key numeracy abilities such as addition, subtraction, and multiplication.

A comprehensive set of supplies

Packed full of resources, the kit features a calculator cash register, replica Australian money (coins and notes), bucket balance, attractive display posters and plastic fruit and vegetables. Also in the kit are two helpful guides: a tailored ideas booklet, and ‘Mathematics and Money’ written by education resource experts Dr Paul Swan and Linda Marshall. Both resources contain targeted teaching inspiration utilising the My Classroom Shop Kit contents.

Adapt to meet the needs of your students

The mode of play can easily be adapted to feed into the key learning outcomes for Foundation through to Year 6, as stipulated in the 2023 Australian Curriculum. Younger students will benefit from counting out $1 increments for items up to $5, sorting, grouping and skip counting using coins, whilst older children may tackle percentages in the form of discounts, counting correct change for unrounded prices, and incorporating weight as a component of the transaction (for example 2kg of carrots at the price of $3 per kg). Other potential applications include reference to 5c and 10c coins, counting out a ‘float’ at the start and end of activities, writing receipts using the correct place value, and rounding figures up and down.

Bright and practical resources

The products in the kit promote student engagement through their bright and appealing appearance, with pieces supplied in a variety of vibrant colours. The vegetable and fruit counters are made from a tactile rubber, which is both durable and easy-to-clean, ideal for a busy classroom environment. Children can have a lot of fun simply by recognising, matching to the poster, and sorting the fruit and vegetables, which are presented in their typical associated colours (e.g., blueberries are blue).

In full, the kit contains:

• 1x Money Set comprising 340 coins (5c, 10c, 20c, 50c, $1, $2) and 100 notes ($5, $20, $50, $100)
• 1x Calculator Cash Register
• 108x Fruit Counters (grapes, oranges, blueberries, strawberries, apples, and bananas)
• 72x Vegetable Counters (cucumbers, garlic, corn, capsicum, eggplant, carrot)
• 1x Primary Bucket Balance
• 2x Sorting Trays
• 1x Mathematics and Money by Dr Paul Swan and Linda Marshall
• 1x Poster Set of 10
• 1x Ideas Booklet by Dr Paul Swan

Key measurements include:

• Calculator Cash Register L 265mm x W 240mm x H 140mm
• Primary Bucket Balance L 410mm x W 160mm x H 150mm
• Fruit Counters 20mm
• Vegetable Counters 55mm