Penny-Sorting Educational Activity

Invite your kid to scour the house for pennies. If you're out and about, you can have him search through your purse. This is a great educational activity to do while waiting at the pediatrician's office.

Once he's got a handful of cents, have him put the pennies in chronological order. Ask him to show you which penny is the oldest one and which is the newest. Which is the shiniest, which is the dirtiest?

Challenge him to find a penny from the year he was born. See if he can find one from the year you were born. (Yes, they had pennies back then, thank you!)

Teach him a little penny trivia and see if he can remember it all! Here are a few tidbits to get you started.

The penny was the first coin ever minted in the U.S., back in 1787. If your kid finds one from that year in your purse, contact the Smithsonian, pronto!

Benjamin Franklin designed the first penny. Ever want to feel really insecure about your accomplishments? Read that dude's biography. He did everything!

The penny has had more designs than you've had hairdos. It has changed its look 11 times since it was first minted.

The first Lincoln penny was made in 1909 to mark the 100th anniversary of his birth.

Lincoln faces to the right on the penny, while all other portraits on U.S. coins face to the left. Why? No reason. The designer just wanted it that way. Artistic license, if you will.

Every year the U.S. prints 13 billion pennies. If you had a penny for every penny they minted, you'd be one rich mama.

Finally, have him count up his pennies and take him to the candy store to spend his moolah!