Making Change
This topic covers 5 learning steps, guiding your child from the basics through to confident problem-solving. Each step includes a worked example and adaptive practice questions.
What Your Child Will Learn
- Addition & Subtraction Review
Adding and subtracting money amounts - Counting Up for Change
Find change by counting up from the cost to the amount paid - Multi-Item Bills
Add multiple items then calculate change - Comparing Prices
Find differences between prices and work out best deals - Challenge — Shopping Scenarios
Complex multi-step money word problems
Worked Example
Merchant Marina says:
You buy a potion for £2.35 and a shield for £1.40. How much altogether?
- Line up the decimals: £2.35 + £1.40.
- Add the pence: 35 + 40 = 75p.
- Add the pounds: £2 + £1 = £3.
- Total: £3.75.
Answer: £3.75
Common Mistakes
- Subtracting incorrectly when calculating change across a pound boundary (e.g. £5.00 − £3.65 — struggling with the borrowing)
Use the "counting up" method instead: from £3.65, count up 35p to £4.00, then £1 more to £5.00. Total change = £1.35. This avoids tricky subtraction with zeros. - Forgetting that £1 = 100p and mishandling the decimal point (e.g. writing £2.5 instead of £2.50)
Money always has two digits after the decimal point. £2.50 means 2 pounds and 50 pence. Practise writing amounts correctly: £0.05, £1.20, £10.00.
Tips for Parents
- Practise the "counting up" method for change: start from the price and count up to the amount paid. This is how real shopkeepers do it.
- When you get change at a shop, ask your child to check it: "We paid £10, the bill was £7.45 — is £2.55 the right change?"
- Set up a shop at home with real prices and real coins. Let your child be the shopkeeper who works out the change.
- Use restaurant menus: "If we order a pizza for £8.50 and pay with £10, what change do we get?"
Key Words
- Change — The money returned when you pay more than the price — if an item costs £3.50 and you pay £5, the change is £1.50.
- Counting up — A method for finding change by counting forwards from the price to the amount paid.
- Decimal point — The dot between pounds and pence — £4.75 means 4 pounds and 75 pence.
- Pound (£) — The main unit of British money — £1 = 100p.
- Pence (p) — The smaller unit of British money — 100p makes £1.
Where This Fits
Before this topic: Children should recognise coins and notes, add and subtract within 100, and understand the £ and p notation.
After this topic: Giving change leads to multi-step money problems, calculating discounts and percentage savings, and real-world budgeting.
How MathCraft Teaches This
In MathCraft, Making Change is taught through the Money, Data & Measure adventure track. Your child follows guided lessons with friendly characters, works through examples step by step, then practises with questions that adapt to their level.
The adaptive engine tracks mastery across all 5 steps, revisiting concepts your child finds tricky and advancing when they're ready. Parents can see detailed progress in the Parent Dashboard.
Practise Making Change with MathCraft
Step-by-step lessons, worked examples, and adaptive practice — all wrapped in an adventure game your child will love.
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