May 23 is Lucky Penny Day, so get your penny jar out and see what you can do with all those pennies!
Penny Hike
I have seen lots of families either walking or biking together these last few weeks perhaps because it is the perfect storm – beautiful weather and one of the few ways to get out of the house during our sheltering in place!
To add some variety to your walk or bike ride, how about a penny hike? All you have to do is take a penny with you, and when you get to a crossroads, flip the penny. If it lands heads up, you turn right; if it lands tails up, you turn left. It sure does make for an interesting walk or ride!
Copper Caper
Here is a fun project to do with pennies from Exploratorium. It is some kitchen science that uses salt and vinegar to transform old pennies into bright and shiny ones. All the details can be found by clicking here.
Awesome Tricks to Do with a Penny
These ideas from the Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls site are called Craft Closet Boredom Busters. I bet there are times in the day when these might come in handy!
- Penny Drop involves a glass half-full of water, an index card and 4 pennies. You place the index card on top of the glass of water and stack the pennies on top of the card. When you flick the card away the pennies drop into the water instead of flying off with the card. (The scientific reason for this is explained.)
- How to Make a Penny Disappear is a magic trick your child can learn to impress his friends and family. You put a clear empty glass upside down on a piece of white paper and place a penny on the paper next to it. Then, cover the glass and the penny with a bandana and voila – when you remove the bandana, the penny has disappeared!
- Penny Mind Benders would be a good thing for your older kids. There are pennies and nickels set up in a certain configuration and the object is to move them into another configuration, but you must move two coins at a time. It takes some trial and error and strategic thinking to do this one!
To find out all the details of these fun activities, click here.
For more fun with pennies, check out the Learning More section on this DownHome site.
– Becky Lynn is a writer for EllisDownHome.com. She and her husband Bob enjoy spending time with their 8 grandchildren and traveling. Becky loves cranking up the music and heading to the kitchen to try out new recipes or cook for an upcoming party. She is passionate about continuing to be a life-long learner!
