Real Cashiers & Purple Play Money

“That’ll be $100, sir.” Jessie pressed a button on her play cash register. Ding! It chimed as a little drawer popped opened.

“That’s too much,” said Justin. “I only have three pink $10 bills.”

“Oh, well, you can have it on sale,” said Jessie. “Give me three pink bills and two yellow ones.”

“Thanks,” Justin said. “Now it’s my turn to be cashier.” Justin switched places with Jessie, who wandered around the room pretending to be shopping.

Soon Justin’s little sister, Ellie, came into the family room. “Whatcha doin’?” she asked.

“We’re playing Shopping Store,” Jessie replied as she pointed to the toys, games, and books she and Justin had set up around the room.

“Can I play?” Ellie asked hopefully. “I wanna shop, too.”

“Sure. Here’s your money.” Justin handed his sister a small stack of colorful play money. “Now go find something in our store and come buy it from me.”

Ellie’s face beamed. “It’s so pretty,” she said. “I like my money!” She ran to the toy box, pulled out her play purse, and stuffed the money inside.

Jessie and Ellie shopped for awhile. Finally, Jessie set a toy duck on the table where Justin was waiting. “That’ll be $50,” he announced.

“Yay, it’s on sale!” Jessie said, smiling. She pulled out some pink, yellow, and orange bills. “Will this be enough?”

“Yes, ma’am,” said Justin. Ding! The drawer opened, and Justin placed the money inside. “Next, please!” he said. Ellie laid a stuffed hippopotamus on the table.

“How much is dis?” Ellie asked in a squeaky grown-up voice.

“That’s $25.”

Ellie opened her play purse and pulled out some green and yellow bills. “Here you go,” she squeaked. “You can have these, but I wanna keep da pink and purple ones.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” said Justin.

The three kids shopped all morning. Ding-ding- ding—rang the cash register.

Finally, it was lunchtime, and Jessie had to leave. Ellie excitedly told her mom all about the money Justin gave her.

“It’s boo-tiful! All pink and purple ’cause I gave Jussin da other colors.”

“It sounds like fun,” said Mom. “But we’ll need to go to a real store today, too. I need to buy some things for dinner.”

“Yay!” Ellie exclaimed. “I know how to buy stuff now.”

Mom smiled. “Good for you. Let’s get going.”

“May I take my wallet to buy a snack?” asked Justin. “I still have money from doing my chores.”

“Sure,” Mom agreed as they all headed for the door.

Suddenly, Ellie turned and ran into the family room. She came back with her little purse hanging on her shoulder. She proudly stepped out the door, ready for her shopping trip.

At the store, Justin and Ellie stayed with Mom while she shopped. As they went to get in line, Justin asked, “May I go look at the candy bars?”

“All right,” said Mom.

“Can I go with Jussin?” asked Ellie. Mom nodded.

Justin took hold of his sister’s hand. They walked to the candy shelves and stood gazing at the yummy snacks. “Hmm,” said Justin, “do I want peanuts and caramel or coconut and chocolate?”

“I like dis one,” said Ellie, holding up a chocolate bar. “It’s purple and shiny.”

Justin peered at the candy Ellie held. “Well, the wrapper on the outside is purple, but on the inside it has peanut butter and chocolate.”

“Yay! Dat sounds dee-wicious.”

“It does sound good,” Justin agreed, “but I think I want . . . this one.” Justin finally made his choice and grabbed a bar in a red package. He turned to show it to his sister, but she wasn’t there!

Justin spun in a circle, searching for Ellie. “Ellie?” he called. Suddenly, he spotted her standing in line at a cash register! Justin raced over to the line. “Ellie, wait!” he shouted, but it was too late.

Ellie’s turn was next. She walked forward and turned toward the cashier. But Ellie was so short, the cashier couldn’t see her. “Next, please!” she called.

Ellie’s little hands grabbed hold of the counter, and she pulled herself up on her tiptoes to peek over the edge. “I want to buy dis, please,” she explained and tossed her candy bar up where it landed in front of the cashier.

“Oh!” exclaimed the cashier. “That’ll be 89 cents.” She smiled and waited patiently while Ellie fished around in her little purse then placed a purple play-money bill on the counter.

The cashier’s smile disappeared. “Oh, uh, you can’t use this kind of money.”

“Huh?” Ellie looked confused. “How about the pink kind?”

“No, Sweetie,” the lady replied.

“Here, Ellie, use this.” Justin appeared beside his little sister. “This is real money, the kind you need at the real store.” Justin handed Ellie a dollar bill and let her give it to the cashier.

“That’s more like it,” said the cashier as she hit a button and a drawer shot open with a ding. She handed some coins to Ellie.

“Thank-you!” said Ellie. Justin quickly bought his candy, and then the kids went to find their mom waiting in line.

“Did you get your candy?” Mom asked.

“Yep, we just had to use the right money,” explained Justin with a grin.

“Yeah,” agreed Ellie. “When I grow up, I’m gonna be a cashier so I can give people real money and push da ‘ding’ button all day long! Ding-ding-ding!”

Download Coloring Page