Shopping With a Twist
Pick a long word and count its letters, then give vowels and consonants different prices to find the cost of the word.
Write any long word – we used words like ‘photograph’, ‘television’ or ‘dinosaur’.
Then, ask your child to count…
- how many letters has the word got?
Next, ask about consonants and vowels…
- how many consonants does the word have?
- how many vowels?
NEXT
Make the problem a little more interesting by including money.
For example: If the vowels cost 10p and the consonants cost 5p (for example), how much would the word be worth?
LATER
Try other words. Encourage your child to choose a word.
If they are struggling, focus on family names.
- How much is your name worth?
- Is Adam more expensive than Jill?
- Which of their friends has the most ‘expensive’ name?
- How many words can they find that would cost exactly £1?
More like this
£1 Shopping Challenge
With £1 to spend, find one item, then two items, that cost less than a pound and work out the change.
£1 Challenge
Out shopping with just £1 to spend? Find three things that together cost less than £1, then work out the change.
UK Coins and Counting
How many different coins do we use in Britain? Count, add and find the fewest coins needed to make an amount.
Pocket Money Budget
Plan a pocket-money budget across a few categories and work out how long it would take to save up for something.