Last year my parents bought the children a shopping game called Buy It Right. It is a money game which can be played at three different levels (beginner level – only use pounds, intermediate level is pence only and the advance level is using pounds and pence combined). The three different variations of the game is the main reason why I was so interested in this game as it is something which both kids can play and learn from.
The game comes with the following
- game board
- play money (Notes and coins)
- 4 shopping Carts (board with 8 empty boxes that need to get filled)
- 4 shoppers
- 40 things to buy (item cards that are used to fill up the empty boxes on the shopping carts)
- 3 dice
The box that the game comes in is actually designed so that it can be used as the bank.
Each player starts the game with an empty shopping trolley (which needs to be filled in order to win the game) and some money. The player rolls the dice to determine how many blocks he needs to move. The blocks on the board have different descriptions like – buy 1 get 1 free, donate to charity, buy 2 items, lose money, ATM (the bank gives you money) etc. Based on the block on which the player lands they need to pick up an item card or cards (these item cards are what you use to fill up your shopping cart). The player then needs to roll the dice again to determine how much the item(s) are going to cost.
In the easiest version of the game everything is just pounds so you would only use 1 dice but in the hardest version you roll 3 dice. Now it is up to the player to decide how they are going to arrange the 3 dice eg if you rolled a 6, 2 and 3 you could arrange it to be £6.23 or £2.36 etc. I loved this aspect of the game as the kids (especially my youngest) ended up doing place value – where is the best position for the smallest number to go and the best position for the biggest number to go so that you end up paying the less for your items.
The bottom of each shopping cart has three spaces for the players to set out the dice. In the beginning the kids always used this as it helped them organise their thoughts and get the dice in the correct order for the money but I have noticed with practice my oldest is not always placing her dice in the spaces.
So why do I LOVE this game. The kids are practicing recognising different coins, counting money, working out change for themselves, working out how different combinations of numbers create different amounts, it is Maths practice and “handling money” practice.
The fact that the game has the different variations means both kids can play it.
We have tried other “money games” before and they have never popular with my two but this one ticks all the Maths boxes with me and both my kids enjoy playing the game.
You can buy this game from Amazon – Learning Resources Buy It Right Shopping Game
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. It is a great book for setting the scene on how castles came about starting with basic wooden castles which were later replaced by stone castles as the wood burnt very easily.
ofamily learning together 