Money Pig!

I went a quest:  Find a metal pig!  I can't believe I found one!  Last summer at Jo-Ann's for 90% off!  Yes, 90% off!  So the $24.95 metal patio pig was $2.49.  (People paid $24.95 for a metal pig to decorate their patios with???)

Now, you don't need a metal pig, any animal will do.  And you can always just get a graphic of your favorite animal and attach it to a cookie sheet and you will have a metal animal that magnets will adhere to.  :)

So, what do you do next?  Use a glue gun to attach magnets to 10 pennies and 10 dimes.

This is Day 131.
There is 1 dollar, 3 dimes, and 1 penny
on the front of the pig.  

I used a wide tip Sharpie to write the numbers 1-9 along the pig's legs.
I also drew 10 dots along the top of the pig so I can store the pennies there and 10 dots on the pig's snout for the dimes.

On the first day, I had the "Calendar Helper" place a penny next to the #1 on the pig's rear leg.
We continued each day until day 10.  Since there are only 9 dots along the leg, there is not a place for the tenth penny.  That allows me to demonstrate that we have to put all of the pennies back along the pig's back and trade them all for one dime which we place by the #1 on the pig's front leg.

The dollar was clipped behind the ear until day 100.
Here, you can see the dimes stored on the the pig's snout
and the pennies stored on his back.

We continue placing pennies until we get to day 20 and then we put all of the pennies back and add another dime.

When we get to day 100 we remove the 9 pennies and pick up the tenth dime.  When we realize there isn't a spot for the tenth dime, we place them back on the dots on the pig's snout and we trade them for the dollar which was folded and paper clipped to the back of the pig's ear.

Although coins are not a part of the new Kindergarten Common Core Standards, they are a wonderful tool for teaching place value and my students LoVe   MoNeY  PiG!  :)

Here are some more things you might like to use during Calendar Time:
These calendar cards will help you celebrate special Color Days.  Your students can dress in a specific color on a specific day.

And here are the Color Day Notes to send home (in English and in Spanish) to tell parents about the Color Days you have planned.

And here are ABC Pattern Shapes to use in your calendar.

                

And here are some Spring Calendar Numbers to use in your calendar.

                                           

             

And a FREEBIE for you:  Our unique Days of The Week Song sung to the tune of The Core's "Sunday, I'm In Love" which you can listen to on iTunes if you are not familiar with the tune.

Have fun with your calendar time!

:)