Hobbies And Interests
Rainbow Notes
European notes, or money, are much more colorful than those found in the United States. But if the colors of the Euro notes were removed, kids could compete to come up with the most colorful cash. To create a rainbow competition, photocopy bank notes on a “grayscale” setting of a photocopier (this allows the shading to show through but just black, gray and white colors). Opt for both sides or just one, depending on your copier’s settings. Once you’ve got the copies, let kids’ imaginations run wild with markers, crayons and glitter glue to create their own cash styles.
Quick Shuffle
Kids can combine both math and history lessons with a quick shuffle Euro note game. While Euro notes come in seven values (500, 200, 100, 50, 20, 10 and 5), their worth compared to the American dollar is always changing. As of July 6, 2010, one Euro was worth $1.26 US dollars. Similar to the way you’d teach kids with flash cards, play the quick shuffle Euro note game by holding up a note and asking kids to write down how much it is worth compared to American dollars. Prior to playing, write the day’s currency conversion on the blackboard or a piece of paper so kids may refer to it. Test kids on each note and give a prize to the children who answered the most correctly.
Artist’s Sketch
Similar to those “Do you think you can draw?” competitions found in the back of newspapers and magazines, where budding artists are asked to replicate a cartoon bird or animal, kids can use Euro notes as their guides to create artist sketches. Each of the seven notes offers imagery of foundational structures such as bridges, columns, houses and buildings. Kids can use watercolors, oils and pastels on canvas to make these images come alive as the basis for a sketch. Let the bridge spanning the back of the 100 Euro note, for example, serve as inspiration for a sketch; have kids add a sky, the surrounding scenery and some boats or wildlife in the water under the bridge.