The Learning Resources Calculator Cash Register is celebrating its 25th birthday — and this year, with children learning from home, couldn’t be a better year to talk about it.

It has been in this reviewer’s home for more than five years and has provided numerous opportunities for learning and for pretend play. It has helped with practical knowledge with the money unit themes at school. Plus, it has also been a real-life lemonade stand register when the kids sold lemonade at a yard sale.

Whatever the uses, the Learning Resources Cash Register comes in either pink or red, and teaches children the concept of money math. From coin recognition to practice adding and subtracting, kids learn how to handle money. The register comes with realistic-looking pretend cash to bring the pretend play to life.

It is essential to mention that the Calculator Cash Register money is lifelike because it teaches children about coin recognition. For example, the dimes are small and have the same logo as a real dime. The penny is brown to mimic a real one-cent piece. The paper money also has similarities to the real thing. For older kids, you can swap out the pretend cash for real money. The slots are sized for real cash so older kids can practice counting, handling, and using it to preview real-world transactions.

The cash register’s functions are intuitive. There is a button to open the cash drawer, and number buttons to add up the amount and subtract to give change. There is even a slot for a pretend credit card, though there is no functionality that it provides other than the play factor.

Kids can have fun pretending to play shopkeeper, setting out items with sales tags and having friends and family buy the items. Then use the register to ring the items up for sale. Another idea is to make a menu with pricing to have some fun (and learn) at dinner time at home.

In addition to the educational opportunity while they play, the cash register brings fun play to education. When kids learn about money, use the register to bring the school lesson to playtime. If they’re doing word problems for school, the cash register to give functionality to the lesson by using the pretend money, and the register, to learn the lesson in a hands-on, multi-faceted way.

All in all, this is a fun and functional toy, and can be a staple for play and learning for another 25 years!

About the author

Charlene DeLoach

Charlene DeLoach

Charlene DeLoach is a contributing editor at The Toy Insider where she primarily covers parenting topics. Charlene has been featured in print and on television more than 100 times. Before joining The Toy Insider, Charlene was an attorney, real estate broker, and interior decorator. In her current life, she has vowed to get grownups using toys as decor and to teach parents and toy companies to think outside the toy box at her websites playroomchronicles.com and totaltoycreative.com. Follow Charlene on Instagram where you'll see that her account is mostly dedicated to pics of her cute dogs, kids, and fun finds.

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