Set up a classroom grocery store. Have students bring in clean, empty containers of food and household items that they have used at home. This might include laundry detergent, cereal boxes or milk jugs.
Collect sales fliers from your local market. Purchase some pretend fruits and vegetables, as well as a scale and a cash register.
Arrange the "store" by moving desks into aisles and placing like items together on the "shelves" (desks). Write the price of each item on a piece of masking tape and attach it. Write the price of fruits and vegetables on a list for the cashier.
Set up the checkout area with a toy cash register and the list of fruits and vegetable prices.
Tell the students that they are going to go shopping and practice what they have been learning about money. Explain that they will write a shopping list and be given a budget. They can work in pairs.
Allow the students to move near their partners. They can write the list together. Have them estimate how much they think each item will cost and jot it down next to the item on their list. They can look through the sales fliers to see if there are coupons for anything they have on their list.
Select two or three students to be cashiers. The number of cashiers you will have depend upon how big your class is. You can select baggers as well, if desired.
Explain to the students that they must shop in an orderly manner. Lay the ground rules that might include walking, using quiet voices and so on.
Begin shopping. Students collect their items in bags or baskets. They should keep a running total of how much they are spending as they shop. Proceed to the checkout when they have everything on their lists.
Supervise the checkers as they ring up the items. They may need help entering the prices into the cash register or calculator. Once they have completed the order, the customer counts out the amount of money and gives it to the cashier. The cashier counts out the correct amount of change and gives it to the customer. The customer counts the money to make sure it is correct.
Rotate students so that each one gets to be a shopper and a cashier. You may want to do this activity over several days or periodically through your money unit if you have a large class.
Play board games that involve money. You can make your own or use a commercially-available game.
Practice money, time-telling and other functional math skills using computer programs. Some of the software is in game format, others use a drill format. You can find these at some online game websites or in educational software catalogs.
Practice functional math skills using worksheets. These can be found at many teaching-oriented websites for free or you can sign up for a membership to make worksheets at a site such as the MoneyInstructor website.
Give students a budget and a catalog of furniture or camping equipment. They can furnish their new bedrooms or shop for a camping trip, being careful to stay within budget.
Practice time management, map and chart reading by having the students plan an itinerary for a vacation. Given an assigned length of time, the students should decide on a mode of transportation, look at any time tables and plan the schedule day-by-day. You can incorporate money practice by adding a budget component to the assignment.