Would You Rather? Money Math Activity Cards

Here are some fun money math activity cards for 2nd and 3rd grade!

This math activity that uses the popular Would You Rather? game format, which makes math practice more fun.

Second grade is the time for kids to get really good at handling money. By the end of the year, they should be able to count a mixed collection of coins up to (and beyond) $1.00. They should be able to skip count quarters (and everything else too). They should be able to solve word problems that involve adding and subtracting money and calculating change.

These Would You Rather math cards are the perfect way to practice counting and adding money!

I would recommend having either real coins or play money available for this activity so that kids can count the actual coins. Some kids will be able to just count in their heads, but others will definitely benefit from being able to handle the coins.

There are 28 cards to print.

The first 12 cards are Would You Rather cards that involve counting coins and comparing amounts.

For example, would you rather have 2 quarters, 2 dimes, 8 nickels, and 10 pennies? Or would you rather have 4 quarters and 3 dimes?

The first set of coins sounds like tons of money! It’s 22 coins vs. 7. But when you do the math, the first group is $1.20 and the second group is $1.30. So 4 quarters and 3 dimes is actually 10 cents more.

I wrote the questions so that kids have to think about money in different ways. For example, if you are talking about earning money, then you will want to choose the greater amount. But if you are talking about spending money to purchase the same thing, you’ll want to choose the lesser amount.

Then there are 8 cards that have Would You Rather questions with more complicated money math.

For example, would you rather sell 10 toy cars for 2 nickels each, or sell 10 toy cars for 75 cents total? Selling the cars for 2 nickels each would yield $1.00, so that is definitely the better choice.

The last set of cards has 8 Fair or Not Fair? Cards.

These cards ask kids whether a trade would be fair or not fair. If the amount of money you are trading for is actually less than what you are giving away, then it’s not a fair trade!

Ready to print your Would You Rather Money Math Cards? Click the link below. The file will open, and you can download or print from there.

CLICK HERE: Would You Rather? Money Math Cards

Need more math activities? We’ve got lots!

This LEGO Math Investigation page is also perfect for 2nd and 3rd grade!