Money Teaching Resources
Bring Australian money and financial literacy concepts into your primary school classroom this year with worksheets, games and more resources designed to ensure your students can recognise and count coins and notes, understand the value of different currency denominations and so much more!
This money teacher resources collection is aligned with standards in the Australian maths curriculum, and you'll find everything you need to teach build primary students' understanding of financial transactions and decision-making.
Teaching about money for the very first time? Take a look at this guide from the expert teachers of Teach Starter to help you help your students with this real-world maths concept!
What Is Money? A Kid-Friendly Definition
There's an old saying that money makes the world go round, but what is money really? How do you explain it to your students? Here's a definition of money that we use with our own students!
Money is something that we use to exchange for goods or services.
For example, if you want to buy a new video game, you will need money to pay for it!
What Is a Dollar? A Kid-Friendly Definition
Dollar is another vocabulary word key to teaching students about money.
A dollar is the basic unit of money that Australians use every day.
Some other countries around the world, including the United States and Canada, also base their money system around the dollar.
To represent a dollar, we use a special symbol called the dollar sign, which looks like this: $.
What Is a Cent? A Kid-Friendly Definition
A cent is another unit of money that is used in Australia. It is equal to one hundredth of a dollar.
To represent a cent, we use a special symbol called the cent sign, which looks like this: ¢.
Australian Notes and Coins — Currency Explained
Currency is a word that we use to describe the form of money that we use to pay for things.
Here in Australia, our currency is made by the Royal Australian Mint and the Reserve Bank of Australia, which are special parts of the Australian government.
Australian currency can be made out of special paper that we call a banknote or note. Currency can also be made out of pieces of metal that we call coins.
These notes and coins each have numbers assigned to them that let us know their value. For example, an Australian dollar is equal to 100 cents.
So, what are the Australian coins and notes that your students should know about? Let's take a look!
Australian Coins
The Royal Australian Mint produces six different Australian coins, all of which we can use to purchase goods or pay for services. These include:
- 5 cent coin
- 10 cent coin
- 20 cent coin
- 50 cent coin
- 1 dollar coin
- 2 dollar coin
Australian Notes
There are currently 5 different Australian notes or banknotes that you may find in your piggybank or at the store.
These notes represent the following denominations:
- $5
- $10
- $20
- $50
- $100
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Decimals and Percentages Maths Investigation – Plan a Party!
Get your students connecting their maths knowledge to the real world with this decimals and percentages party planning project.
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Time Management Activity – Planning a Day Trip
Students use their knowledge of maps, timetables and money to plan a well-timed 'flying' visit to Five Wonders Theme Park, between two connecting flights.
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Money and Financial Mathematics Worksheets - Year 2
6 money and financial mathematics worksheets linked to the Australian Curriculum.
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Money Task Cards - Multi-Step Word Problems
Practise solving money word problems with a printable set of multi-step word problem task cards.
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Money and Financial Mathematics - Upper Years Interactive PowerPoint
An engaging 44 slide interactive PowerPoint to use in the Upper Years classroom when learning about money and financial mathematics
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Financial Mathematics Maths Investigation – Let's Play Mini Golf!
A mathematics investigation about financial mathematics and measurement, embedded in a real-world context.
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Money Match-Up Activity (Australian Currency)
An activity to help students recognise Australian coins and their combined amounts.
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Money and Financial Mathematics Worksheets - Year 4
2 money and financial mathematics worksheets linked to the Australian Curriculum.
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Pandora's Party Palace Maths Activity – Upper Years
Sixteen mathematics problem-solving task cards involving money in a real-world context.
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Money and Financial Mathematics - Middle Years Interactive PowerPoint
An engaging 44 slide interactive PowerPoint to use in the classroom when learning about money and financial mathematics
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Pandora's Party Palace Maths Activity – Middle Years
16 mathematics problem solving task cards involving money in a real-world context.
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Money and Financial Mathematics Worksheets - Year 3
2 money and financial mathematics worksheets linked to the Australian Curriculum.
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Recognising Australian Coins – Worksheet
Explore Australian coins with this simple worksheet.
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Shopping Catalogue with Worksheet
A shopping catalogue and worksheet to use when working on financial mathematics.
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Decimals and Percentages Assessment
Assess students' knowledge of various decimals and percentages concepts with this four-page worksheet.
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Financial Planning Maths Investigation - My Day at Leisure Land!
A mathematics investigation involving financial planning, embedded in a real-world context.
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Representing Money Amounts – Worksheet
A worksheet for students to practise representing money amounts in multiple ways.
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Money and Finances Maths Investigation – Pop–Up Shop on Wheels
A project where students use their mathematic skills to plan a fundraiser for a charity of choice.
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Australian Money Word Search with Solution
A word search to help your students to learn what the Australian currency looks like and their corresponding names.
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Money and Financial Mathematics Worksheets - Year 6
2 money and financial mathematics worksheets linked to the Australian Curriculum.
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Money Worksheets for Year 1
2 money worksheets linked to the Australian Curriculum.
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Dan's Digital World – Financial Maths Worksheets
Teach financial literacy to your students using this electronics store catalogue with accompanying worksheets.
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Ordering Australian Coins – Worksheet
A worksheet for students to practise ordering Australian coins.
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Pandora's Party Palace Maths Activity – Lower Years
16 mathematics problem solving task cards involving money in a real-world context.
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Spell and Count - Money Maths Activity
Develop spelling and money-counting skills simultaneously with a printable spelling and money maths centre activity.
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Data Maths Investigation – Line Up the Coins
A mathematics investigation about data, embedded in a real-world context.
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Money and Financial Mathematics Worksheets - Year 5
2 money and financial mathematics worksheets linked to the Australian Curriculum.
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Pocket Money Board Game
Use this pocket money board game to introduce your students to the concept of money management.
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Calculating Discounts and Sale Price Teaching Slides
Teach your students how to calculate discounts and sale prices using fractions and decimals with this comprehensive teaching presentation.
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Counting Coins Worksheet
A counting worksheet using Australian coins.
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Word Problem Worksheet - Money
Money word problem worksheet with answers.
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Australian Dollar Note Sheets
A sheet of Australian dollar notes to use with games and activities.