Money & Change · Grades 1–5
Money & Making Change Worksheets
Coins, prices, and change: decimals applied to the most practical math a child will ever use. Printable money worksheets from counting a handful of coins through multi-item purchases with sales tax.
Generate money & change worksheets →Free plan · 5 credits every month · answer keys included · no card required.
What it is
Money worksheets cover a progression: adding up a collection of coins (Grade 1), making change from a cash payment (Grades 2-3), totalling several whole-dollar items and making change (Grade 4), and totalling items priced in dollars and cents with sales tax added (Grade 5).
Why it matters
Handling money is one of the most immediately useful applications of math and an early, motivating context for decimals and mental arithmetic.
How to do it
- Coin total: add up every coin or bill's value.
- Change: subtract the price from the amount you paid — the difference is your change.
- Multiple items: add up every item's price first, then (if paying cash) subtract that sum from what you paid.
- Sales tax: multiply the subtotal by the tax rate, then add that tax to the subtotal for the total cost.
Examples by level
- BeginnerChange from $1.00 for $0.06 =$0.94
- IntermediateChange from $1.00 for $0.93 =$0.07
- AdvancedChange from $20.00 for $12.21 =$7.79
Examples are generated by the same engine as the worksheets, so they're always mathematically correct. Built to avoid repeats, not reshuffle the same handful of questions.
Common mistakes
- Not aligning decimal points when adding prices.
- Miscounting change by subtracting incorrectly.
- Confusing dollars and cents.
- Adding sales tax to each item separately instead of once to the subtotal.
Tips
- Line up the decimal points when subtracting or adding money.
- Count up from the price to check your change.
- Sales tax is added to the subtotal, not to each item separately — total the items first.
For parents
Practice with real coins and pretend purchases, counting up from the price is the fastest way to find change.
For teachers
Counting-up strategies for change are often more reliable for students than the subtraction algorithm.
Key vocabulary
- change
- money returned after paying
- tender
- the amount you pay with
- subtotal
- the sum of item prices, before tax is added
- sales tax
- a percentage added to the subtotal to get the total cost
Frequently asked questions
- How do you calculate change?
- Subtract the price from the amount paid, or count up from the price to the amount paid.
- What grade is money math taught?
- Coin counting begins in Grade 1, with making change, multi-item purchases, and sales tax extending through Grade 5.
- How do you calculate sales tax?
- Multiply the subtotal (the sum of all item prices) by the tax rate, then add that amount to the subtotal for the total cost.
Ready to practice?
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