Use Money to Teach Your Child Decimals

Decimals are one of the trickiest topics in primary maths. But here’s the thing — if your child has been handling money, they’ve already been doing decimal maths without knowing it. £3.50, $2.99, €4.15 — these are all decimal numbers. And children who learn decimals through money understand them faster and more deeply than those who meet them first in a textbook.

Money gives decimals something they desperately need: a meaning that makes sense.

Why Money Makes Decimals Click

Decimals on a worksheet are abstract. What does 3.5 actually mean to a seven-year-old? But £3.50 — that’s real. Children know what £3.50 buys. They can hold it in coins. They can picture it.

Money connects decimals to concrete understanding:

• The decimal point separates pounds from pence — a clear, physical boundary children can see in their hands
• Two decimal places makes sense because there are 100 pence in a pound (or 100 cents in a dollar)
• Adding decimals is just adding up a shopping total — something children already do
• Comparing decimals is comparing prices — which is cheaper, £2.99 or £3.10?
• Rounding decimals is what happens every time a price ends in .99

When children learn decimals through money, they’re not learning an abstract rule. They’re putting a name to something they already understand.

What to Expect at Each Age

Ages 7–8: Understands that the number after the point means pence or cents. Can read prices as decimal numbers (£3.50 means three pounds and fifty pence). Can add two prices with the same number of decimal places. Starting to see that £3.50 and £3.5 are the same.

Ages 8–9: Can add and subtract prices with different decimal places (£3.50 + £2.5). Understands place value — the first digit after the point is tenths (10p), the second is hundredths (1p). Can compare prices that look similar (£2.09 vs £2.90). Starting to round prices to the nearest pound.

Ages 9–10: Comfortable working with all price formats. Can multiply a price by a whole number (3 items at £1.50 each). Understands that £2.50 is halfway between £2 and £3. Can apply decimal understanding beyond money to measurements and other contexts.

The Common Misconceptions

Money is also brilliant for catching and fixing decimal misconceptions before they become embedded:

• “Longer means bigger” — A child might think £3.125 is more than £3.5 because it has more digits. But if you ask “would you rather have three pounds twelve and a half pence or three pounds fifty?” the answer is obvious.
• “The decimal point doesn’t matter” — Confusing £3.50 with £35.0 is dangerous. But a child who shops knows that £3.50 and £35 buy very different things.
• “You can ignore zeros” — £3.05 and £3.50 look similar on paper. In a shop, they’re very different amounts. Money makes the zero meaningful.

How myplayshop Teaches Decimal Thinking

myplayshop uses real prices in real currencies — all displayed as decimal numbers. Every time your child plays, they’re reading, comparing, and adding decimals:

• Every price is a decimal — £2.50, $1.99, €3.15. Children read decimal numbers hundreds of times per session
• Adding items builds decimal addition — scanning three items and watching the total grow is decimal addition in action
• Making change requires decimal subtraction — working out change from £5.00 when the total is £3.75
• 16 currencies with different decimal formats broaden understanding
• Prices feel real because they are real — based on actual product costs in each currency

The game doesn’t announce “you’re learning decimals.” It just uses them constantly, the way real shops do. And that repetition is what builds fluency.

Activities to Try at Home

1. Price reading practice — Pick up items around the house or in a shop. Ask your child to read the price aloud as a number: “three pounds and twenty-five pence” or “three point two five.” This connects the written decimal to its spoken meaning.

2. The decimal place mat — Draw two columns on paper: Pounds and Pence (or Dollars and Cents). Write prices and ask your child to split them into the two columns. £3.75 = £3 + 75p. This reinforces place value through money.

3. Rounding to the nearest pound — Look at real prices and ask: “Is this closer to £3 or £4?” This is decimal rounding in disguise. Children who can round prices can round any decimal.

4. The .99 conversation — Shops love pricing things at £4.99 or £9.99. Ask your child why. How much less is £4.99 than £5.00? This introduces the idea that decimals very close to a whole number are practically the same — a key estimation skill.

5. Receipt decimal hunt — After a shopping trip, look at the receipt together. Point out the decimal points. Add up two items and check against the running total. Find the most expensive and cheapest items. Every receipt is a decimal worksheet.

Tips for Parents and Teachers

• Don’t teach decimals separately from money — If your child is learning decimals at school, use money examples at home. The connection accelerates understanding.
• Always use two decimal places for money — Write £3.50, not £3.5. This builds the habit of consistent decimal place notation and avoids confusion.
• Use the language of money and maths interchangeably — “Three pounds fifty” and “three point five zero” are the same thing. Help children see that.
• Let mistakes reveal misconceptions — If your child says £3.15 is more than £3.9, don’t just correct them. Get out coins and compare. The physical experience fixes the misconception permanently.
• Pair with myplayshop — Every round of the game is decimal practice in disguise. The more your child plays with real prices, the more automatic decimal thinking becomes.