Fun with Money — 4 Ideas!
July 8, 2010 by Alison
How about a little
Fun with Money!
My daughters thought I was pretty magical when I broke out my money tricks. After I showed them, they must have played for a couple hours trying to do it on their own and preparing to show dad when he got home. They wanted to have the secrets perfected!
This takes no preparation except maybe digging pennies out of the couch.
#1 Magical Linking.
Goal: To get the paper clips to stick together magically.
Items needed:
- A dollar bill
- 2 Paper Clips
Fold the dollar and place clips as shown. Grab the ends (#4) and pull quickly(#5)…that’s what is being shown.
Watch what happens to the paper clips. They are stuck together! Magically!
#2 Penny Moving.
This one is a great time waster! I am not showing you the pictures yet so you can try it first.
Goal: Only move 3 pennies to change the direction of the triangle.
Items needed:
- 10 Pennies
Lay the pennies out as shown in the first picture. Wait…don’t scroll too fast or you’ll see the answer. Try and move only three pennies to change the direction of the triangle.
Okay, you probably figured this out quickly, but I had to cheat to figure it out!
#3 Money Grabbing.
Goal: Put heels and bum against a wall and try to pick up the dollar without bending knees or falling over!
Items needed:
- A dollar
- A wall
Place a bum and heels on the wall. Place a dollar on the floor about a foot out from the kid. Have kids try and reach for the dollar with out falling.
Seriously…this one cracked us up. My daughter was determined to get the dollar. She grabbed the wainscoting to see if that would help her. It didn’t. We ended up giving her the dollar anyway for her valiant effort! I want to do this at our next family reunion and ‘up the ante’ and have the adults do it.
#4 Dollar Folding!
Goal: To get a dollar to turn upside down without turning it over.
Items needed:
- A dollar
Fold, fold, fold, fold and then unfold and it’s upside down.
My grandpa always did this when I was growing up. I love how things become cool again! (think: rainbow brite, my little pony, the list can go on!)
Do you have any cool tricks with money?
It’s nice to pull some of these out when we are at the grocery store, shopping or visiting friends. They require no prep and keep the troops entertained!
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Very fun. We did the wall trick just the other day. I will have to try the paperclip and folding dollar with the kids sometime. They would love those as well.
.-= Philip @ RAOP´s last blog ..Wordless Wednesday- Finger Paints =-.
Love the ideas. I am going to try them with my kids later today!
Thanks for easy and quick ideas!!!
If you google origami with money you can find some cool folds with a dollar, My son learned how to do the t-shirt fold one summer and had everyone amazed.
Nice thinking!!! I will do it. Maybe I can amaze my husband with new talents:) Thanks!
too cute – i’m going to have to try the bum to the wall and reach for the dollar or i mean lonnie (AH!!!)
Cute. There is a another one similar to the wall trick that I used to drive my summer camp kiddos crazy with. Place the dollar on the ground and ask your victim to stand with their toes right up to a short end of the bill. Have them grab their toes with their fingers. They can win the bill if you can jump over it (the long way) without falling over. Its not possible, but I love to see people try!
great ideas! these would be fun to try with my children’s church class. Kids LOVE games with money, especially if they get to win some
thanks for the ideas.
.-= Andrea´s last blog ..Homemade Dog Biscuitsand cooking with your kids =-.
The penny idea will entertain my troops at restaurants, for sure!
.-= Lynn from For Love or Funny´s last blog ..Little Green Men Like Me =-.
Take me to a craft store and I can make money disappear!
These are great. Thanks for sharing them.
.-= Lady in a Smalltown´s last blog ..I’m a Yankee Doodle Dandy =-.
How timely! I’m taking my 4 grandkids (8-15 yrs.) on an Amtrack train trip for the weekend (sans electronics!). This will be a great activity. I’ve challenged them to add a trick or two to amaze the rest of us.
Super Kool. Love your blog and freebies. Have a wonderful Summer!!!
u guys are too cute. i love all your ideas!
Alison, I learned from Sheri Lewis a story to go with the right side up to upside down George Washington. “One night President Washington went to bed (right side up), he covered up with the blankets (fold) and went to sleep all snuggled up tight (fold), in the middle of the night he woke up from a terrible dream (unfold upside down). He woke up at the end of his bed, VERY disoriented. But he was too tired to worry about it so he went back to sleep (fold, fold). When he woke up in the morning (unfold right side up) he felt so much better.
I was dating a mexican and his nephew (who had just learned about George Washington in school) LOVED (!!!) this story.