Elementary Money Math Made Simple

Download and play webinar in a new tabDate: January 22, 2026
Presenters:
Organizations: Bank of Canada Museum

Presenter: Heather Montgomery

Organization: Bank of Canada Museum

Overview

This webinar provides educators with a practical, classroom-ready introduction to teaching money, math, and financial literacy in the elementary grades. Heather Montgomery from the Bank of Canada Museum walks viewers through a wide range of free, curriculum-aligned resources designed to make money concepts engaging, hands-on, and age-appropriate—from kindergarten through middle school.

 

The session highlights how financial literacy can be embedded naturally into math instruction using games, real-world scenarios, and inquiry-based learning.

What You’ll Learn

About the Bank of Canada Museum

  • The Bank of Canada’s role as Canada’s central bank, including:
  • Monetary policy and inflation targeting
  • Currency design and circulation
  • Financial system stability
  • Retail payment supervision

 

  • The Bank of Canada Museum is:
  • Located in Ottawa (across from Parliament)
  • Free to the public
  • Canada’s only museum focused on money and economics
  • Home to the National Currency Collection (100,000+ artifacts)

Featured Classroom Resources (Grades K–6+)

All resources are free, downloadable, and available in English and French.

Early Years & Primary (K–3)

  • Exploring Coins and Banknotes
  • Coin and banknote recognition
  • Symbols, colours, and denominations
  • Counting money and simple value comparisons

 

  • Printable Play Mone
  • Highly realistic Canadian coins and banknotes
  • Reusable across multiple lessons and grades

 

  • Needs or Wants?
  • Card-sorting activity
  • Encourages discussion about values, priorities, and different life situations

 

  • Counting Money and Making Change=
  • Skip counting
  • Making purchases
  • Understanding different coin combinations

Junior Grades (3–6)

  • Representing Money in Many Ways
  • Fractions and equivalent values
  • Fair sharing and multiple representations of money

 

  • Trade Rules (Game-Based Learning)
  • Introduces:
  • Consumers and producers
  • Goods and services
  • Local vs. global trade
  • Uses happiness-based trading rounds to spark discussion

 

  • Trading Planets
  • Large-group simulation game
  • Explores:
  • Trade without money
  • Supply and demand
  • Commodity vs. fiat currency
  • Role of a central bank

Financial Decision-Making (Grades 4–6+)

  • Exploring Payment Methods
  • Cash, debit, credit, gift cards, e-transfer
  • Responsible spending decisions
  • Critical comparison of payment options
  • Includes an interactive credit vs. debit quiz

 

  • Value for Money: Determining Unit Price\
  • Grocery-store style price comparisons
  • Unit rates, multiplication, and division
  • Real-world math and consumer awareness

 

  • Budgets: Math for Life
  • Building balanced budgets
  • Income, expenses, goals, and timelines
  • Decimal operations and percentages
  • Includes a culminating “plan an event” task

 

  • Saving and Spending
  • Short- and long-term financial goals
  • Emergency scenarios
  • Game-based simulations of saving vs. spending behaviors

Extension & Enrichment (Grades 5–8)

  • Entrepreneurship: Kids Edition
  • Cross-curricular (math + language)
  • Inspired by Indigenous youth entrepreneur Maya Beaudry
  • Students create business plans and elevator pitches

 

  • Escaping Debt: Risks and Benefits of Borrowing
  • Percentages and simple interest
  • Lending vs. borrowing
  • Escape-room-style classroom activity with teacher script

Teaching Approach Highlights

  • Strong alignment with Ontario curriculum, while applicable across Canada
  • Emphasis on:
  • Inquiry-based learning
  • Games and simulations
  • Real-world relevance
  • Student discussion and reflection
  • Designed to be used a la carte or as full lesson plans

Accessing the Resources

  • Explore all lessons and activities at: bankofcanadamuseum.ca/learn
  • Sign up for the Educator Newsletter (4 emails per year) for updates and new resources
  • Virtual school programs are available free of charge across Canada

Contact

Bank of Canada Museum Education Team 📧 [email protected]

Links Mentioned in the Video