Looking for an activity for your students to practise solving subtraction problems using money? This activity allows your students to use mathematical modelling to solve simple money problems using subtraction.

With 16 piggy bank money cards and 32 shopping cards, your students can make lots of different and differentiated money subtraction problems to solve.

To play, students place a money card on top of the piggy bank, and then select a shopping card with an item they want to buy. They show a strategy for solving the problem and then complete the number sentence at the bottom to show how much money they have left in their piggy bank.

This resource can be used individually and is also suitable for small group work.

To support students in using a range of problem-solving strategies, it would be useful for students to have a collection of play money to use to model and solve each problem they make.

We recommend printing on thick A4 cardstock to allow for easy re-use. Colour and black & white printables are available. You can use this activity in a write-and-wipe sleeve or as a one-time activity by cutting and gluing the cards.

Looking for more resources to support your students in learning to solve practical problems involving additive situations? Check out our Money Word Problem Think Boards resource!