Game Coins Are Real Money

What your kid learns

• Gems hide the price

  Games sell coins and gems for real money. The gems hide the dollar price. Do the math to find it.

• The leftover trick

  Gems often come in packs. Packs leave leftover gems, so you want to buy more. Check what’s left before you buy.

• Gift cards and asking first

  A gift card is money for one store. Track it like cash. Always ask a grown-up before buying in a game. Someone you only know online offers coins? Tell a grown-up.

The story: The Case of the Gem Costume

In a living room, Diego and Amara work out that a 200-gem item in a pretend game really costs $2.50.

1. Helper: A disguise, detectives! These gems are hiding something.
2. Diego: A pretend robot outfit costs 200 gems. That sounds cheap!
3. Amara: Let’s translate. 400 pretend gems cost $5.
4. Amara: 200 is half of 400. So the outfit costs $2.50.
5. Diego: Gems are dollars in a costume!
6. Diego: I’ll ask a grown-up before I buy anything.
7. Helper: Case closed! Coins are dollars in a costume.

The game: Gem Translator

400 pretend gems cost $5. Tap a gem price, then tap its real dollars.

Games use pretend money and work with taps or a keyboard. Nothing is timed.

New words

game coins

money inside a game, bought with real money

Also called: virtual currency

exchange rate

how many coins you get for $1

gift card

money you can spend at one store

in-app purchase

a buy inside a game or app

Questions at the end

• Pretend: 400 gems cost $5. What do 200 gems cost?
• A pretend hat costs 300 gems. Gems come in packs of 500. How many are left over?
• You want to buy gems in a game. What’s the first move?

Remember this

Coins are dollars in a costume.

Talk about it

Pick a game price and translate it into dollars together.

Try it at home: Translate a price list

1. Make a pretend price list of 3 game items in gems.
2. Pretend 400 gems cost $5.
3. Turn each price into dollars.

Convert a pretend price list.

For grown-ups: live facts

• Gift card rules: how long the money must stay good

  Source: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau(opens in a new tab)

• Gift card scams: how to spot and report them

  Source: FTC Consumer Advice(opens in a new tab)

School standards

• National Standards for Personal Financial Education: Spending
• Common Core Math 4.MD.A.2
• Common Core Math 4.NBT.B.6