MoneyCoins & bills
Name: Date:
Circle coins and bills that make the target amount. More than one answer can be correct.
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Make an amount of money worksheets
Counting money goes from the pieces to the total. Making an amount runs the other way: the total is given, and a child has to work out which pieces reach it. These free printable worksheets use US coins and bills.
If they get stuck
Make an amount of money
The answer key prints on a separate page.
What's on this sheet
Choosing is a different skill from adding up. A child has to start with the largest piece that fits, see what is left, and keep going, which is how money is actually handed over at a counter. Each question shows more money than it needs, so a child cannot simply use everything on show, and more than one set of pieces can be right.
Why this sheet works
The artwork labels every value, so the math does not depend on recognizing a coin by its size or a bill by its portrait. The answer sheet shows one set of pieces for each amount. The Real-Life Math maker can switch the currency, limit a page to coins or bills, or change it to counting or making change.
How this one works
Make $25
still to find:$25
2 × $10→$5 left
1 × $5→0¢ left
2 ×$10= $20
1 ×$5= $5
$25
- Work DOWN from the target, not up from the coins. $25 is what has to be found, and every piece taken makes it smaller — so the question is never "what have I got" but "what is still missing".
- Take the biggest piece that is not bigger than what is left, and never one that overshoots — a piece too big cannot be taken back later, and that is where this goes wrong.
- Nothing left to find, so the set is complete: 2 × $10, 1 × $5 makes $25. A different set can be right too — what has to be exact is the total.