Knowing what coins are worth is one thing. Pulling the right ones out of a purse or wallet to pay for something is another skill entirely. Paying with money requires children to think backwards — starting from a target amount and figuring out which coins and notes to combine to reach it.
It’s a skill most adults do without thinking, but for children it takes real practice. Play shop games are ideal because they create endless opportunities to make payments in a setting where mistakes are free.
Why Paying Is Harder Than Counting
When children count coins, they start with what they have and add up. Paying flips this around:
- Start with a target — the price of the item
- Select from available coins — not always the obvious ones
- Combine to reach exactly the right amount — or decide to overpay and receive change
- Do it under mild pressure — someone is waiting
This requires working memory, coin recognition, and addition all at once. It’s genuinely complex, which is why children need low-stakes practice before doing it in a real shop.
What to Expect at Each Age
Ages 5–6: Can pay using single coins that match the price exactly (e.g., paying 50p with a 50p coin). Starting to combine two coins of the same type (e.g., two 20p coins for 40p). May need physical coins laid out to work through it.
Ages 6–7: Can combine two or three different coins to make a price. Starting to choose between different coin combinations (realising that 50p + 20p and 50p + 10p + 10p both work for 70p). Can pay for items under £1 / $1 with growing confidence.
Ages 7–8: Can pay using a mix of coins and notes. Understands overpaying and expecting change. Starting to choose efficient combinations (fewer coins rather than many small ones). Comfortable paying for items up to £5 / $5 or more.
How myplayshop Teaches Payment Skills
In myplayshop, your child plays both sides of the transaction. As the shopkeeper, they receive payments — but the real learning for payment skills comes from understanding how customers pay:
- Seeing realistic payment amounts builds familiarity with how real transactions work
- Handling coins in the till requires selecting specific coins, reinforcing which combinations make which amounts
- Working with real currency denominations means practice transfers directly to real life
- Multiple shop types with different price ranges provide varied payment scenarios
- No penalties for mistakes — children can try again without embarrassment
The repeated cycle of scanning items, totalling prices, and handling money builds the automatic fluency that makes real-world payments feel natural.
Activities to Try at Home
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Exact change challenge — Write a price on a card. Give your child a pile of mixed coins. Ask them to pay the exact amount. Start with prices that match single coins (50p, £1), then move to amounts that need combining.
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The wallet game — Put a selection of coins and a small note in a wallet. Give your child a “shopping list” with prices. Can they pay for each item using only what’s in the wallet? This teaches planning — if you use the big coin now, you might not have enough for later.
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Two ways to pay — Name a price and challenge your child to find two different coin combinations that both work. 35p could be 20p + 10p + 5p, or 10p + 10p + 10p + 5p. This builds flexibility.
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The speed round — Once your child is confident, try a timed version. Set out five prices and a pile of coins. How quickly can they pay for all five? Speed builds the automaticity needed in real shops.
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Real shop practice — Give your child the exact coins needed before you reach the till. Let them hand over the money and check they’ve given the right amount. Build up to letting them select the coins themselves from a purse.
Tips for Parents and Teachers
- Start with exact amounts — Don’t introduce overpaying and change until exact payment is solid.
- Limit the coin types — Begin with just two or three coin denominations. Add more as confidence grows.
- Talk through your own payments — When you pay for something, narrate what you’re doing: “This costs £2.30, so I’ll use a £2 coin and a 20p and a 10p.”
- Accept different combinations — If the amount is correct, it doesn’t matter that they used five coins instead of two. Efficiency comes later.
- Pair with myplayshop — The app reinforces payment concepts through the shopkeeper role, giving children repeated exposure to how money changes hands in transactions.