Penny Activities for Kids

May 23 is Lucky Penny Day, and while the penny isn’t being produced in American anymore, we can still celebrate the pennies we have left with some fun penny activities.

You don’t have to use pennies for most of the activities in the penny lab from STEAM Powered Family (except for the experiment about cleaning pennies) so you can use whatever coins you have on hand or whatever small coins are available in your country. I love the bridge building activity, which I think would be fun for grownups to try as well.

In addition to cleaning pennies, you can also try to turn a penny green with this activity from STEAMsational.

Every Star is Different has a printable Montessori inspired pack of penny activities. There’s a hundred board using pennies, math activities using pennies, writing practice, coin sorting and more.This is a paid resource that’s more than 100 pages and you can purchase it here.

I love these easy penny spinners from Surviving a Teacher’s Salary because kids can decorate them and then play with them. You could also try making them with different coins and see which one spins the longest.

Play penny shuffleboard with this printable board game from Education.com.

If you’re willing to sacrifice some of your precious pennies to art, these little wreaths I found on Pinterest are super cute and would be a fun Christmas ornament. The originals were made with coins from the child’s birth year, which adds on the activity of getting kids to sort through the pennies to find their year.

And of course you can do coin rubbings and pressings in playdough and compare different designs on pennies if you have a collection with a few different design options. Or just give kids a pile of coins and have them sort by type and then count all the pennies (my daughter used to love doing that with her piggy bank!).

We try to keep a relatively regular sleep schedule during the summer, but the morning routine kind of flies out the window when we don’t have anywhere in particular to be. To get little kids back in the groove of getting up and getting ready for school — or to help kids who are new to having a routine learn what to do when — printable routine cards can be a big help.

There are lots of different ways to do these. I like the flip chart style like this one from Mama Papa Bubba. This one is made with a file folder and you add magnets to each section so kids can close the flap on the items they’ve completed for the day. The post includes a free printable with some basic morning activities that kids can cut out and color.

Another version of this that is just paper comes from My Party Design. This one uses little pieces of peel and stick Velcro to close the sections when each step is completed, and there are versions for the morning and evening. (These are not free but might give you an idea of how to make your own with the steps you need.)

For a more detailed, full day schedule great for preschoolers, check out this one from The Savvy Sparrow. This paid resource includes tons of different icons from daily routine items to things like riding bikes, dance class and watering plants. There are 120 icons in all so you’re likely to find everything you need to visually build out your days.

If you want to see how a daily routine printable works for you without putting a lot of work in, try this printable checklist from Little Mager House. You can laminate it or stick it in a plastic sheet protector and mark off things as they get done. Then just wipe it off and start again the next day. This one is free when you sign up for emails.

Natural Beach Living has a free visual schedule printable with all sorts of items and including special things like picnics and nature walks. This one can be used at home or in the classroom and it includes days of the week. (Some of this is free for subscribers but there is also a bundle you can purchase.)

I also love the set of printable routine cards from Look We’re Learning, which includes a bunch of basic daily activities in both English and Spanish if you’re raising a bilingual child or just want to practice a little vocabulary. There are 16 activities in all and there’s a pronunciation guide if you need help with the Spanish. (This is a free resource for subscribers.)

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