A shop game for kids is one of the oldest and best ways to learn about money. Children have always played "dukaan-dukaan" with leaves as rupees and stones as sweets. This page brings that role play to the screen, with a friendly shopkeeper, big toy coins and a voice that counts along. Your child hears what to buy and what it costs, taps coins into a wooden tray, and watches the total grow until it matches the price tag. Then Bholu the elephant says "thank you, here is your apple". It is free, it works in any browser, and it suits children aged about 4 to 6.
Meet Bholu and his fruit and toy stall
Bholu (भोलू) is a gentle elephant who sells fruit and toys under a pink striped awning. On his stall you may find an apple, a banana, a mango, grapes, a pear, a watermelon, a lemon or a strawberry, and toys such as a teddy bear, a balloon, a kite, a yo-yo, a drum, a crayon, a toy car and a sweet. Every item has a hand-tied price tag between 1 and 10. The prices stay the same each time, so your child can start to remember that the watermelon is expensive and the lemon is cheap.
Bholu speaks Hindi and English, in the order you choose with the अ+A button at the top of the site. He never hurries your child and never says "wrong".
How the shop game works
- Listen. Bholu says hello and tells your child what to buy: "Buy the apple. It costs three rupees. Tap the coins to pay." The 🔊 button repeats it.
- Tap coins into the tray. Below the tray is a row of coins (for rupees: ₹1, ₹2, ₹5 and ₹10). Each tap sends a coin flying into the tray, and the voice says the new total: "two rupees... three rupees".
- Match the price. When the total matches the price tag, Bholu says thank you and the next customer's turn begins.
- Too much? Take one back. If your child pays more than the price, the tray glows and Bholu kindly says it is a little too much. Tapping a coin in the tray takes it back. Nothing is lost and nobody is told off.
After five purchases the round ends with a marble in the Goli Jar and a real-world mission. The game never jumps to a new activity on its own. The tabs above the game also offer "Which costs more?" (two price tags, pick the dearer one), "How much money?" (count a small pile of coins) and "Learn" (tap a coin to hear its name). The full coin lesson is on the money for kids page.
Why a pretend shop teaches so much
Role play is how young children make sense of the adult world. When your child pays Bholu, several skills work together:
- Counting on. To pay ₹5 with a ₹2 and ₹1 coins, a child keeps a running total in their head. The spoken total helps until they can do it alone. This is the same skill as addition for kids, with a reason to care.
- Coin value. Children quickly learn that one ₹5 coin is faster than five ₹1 coins. That is the start of place value.
- Comparing. "Which costs more?" builds the language of more and less, bigger and smaller numbers.
- Manners and social words. Hello, please and thank you are part of every visit to the shop. Our page on community helpers talks about the shopkeeper and other people who help us.
Shop role play at home: a 10-minute plan
The screen game is a warm-up. The real learning happens when your child plays shop with you.
| Step | What to do | What your child practises |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Set up (2 min) | Put three toys or fruits on a table. Write price notes of ₹1, ₹3 and ₹5. | Reading numbers 1 to 5 |
| 2. You are the shopkeeper (3 min) | Your child buys one item and counts out real or paper coins. | Counting coins, saying please |
| 3. Swap roles (3 min) | Now your child sells. You pay too much on purpose. Can they spot it? | Checking amounts, giving change |
| 4. Talk (2 min) | "Which was the most expensive? What could we buy with ₹5?" | Comparing, planning |
Paper coins work well: draw circles on card, write ₹1, ₹2 and ₹5, and cut them out. Real coins are fine for older children with a grown-up close by, as coins are a choking risk for toddlers.
Shop games by age
Age 3-4: giving and getting
At this age children enjoy handing something over and getting something back. Keep prices at ₹1 and let one coin buy one thing. In the online shop game, choose the 3-4 age band in Settings for fewer choices and shorter rounds.
Age 4-5: small prices
Children can pay prices of 2 to 5 using ₹1 and ₹2 coins, especially with the counting voice. Practise counting 1 to 10 alongside.
Age 5-6: choosing coins well
Now children can try to pay with as few coins as possible: a ₹5 and a ₹2 for ₹7. They can also compare two prices and work out which costs less. This matches the money unit in UKG, Class 1, UK Year 1 and US kindergarten.
Rupees, dollars, pounds or euros
Tap ₹, $, £ or € above the game to shop with the money you use at home. The prices stay 1 to 10, so the game is the same, only the coins change: rupee coins in India, cents (penny, nickel and dime) in the US, pence in the UK, and euro cents in Europe. It also works for families in Canada or Australia who want to practise with cents. All coins are cartoon toy money that we drew ourselves, clearly not copies of real coins.
Gentle tips if shopping feels tricky
Some children tap coins very fast and overshoot the price. That is fine: it teaches them to take one back and check. Say "let us count together" and point to each coin in the tray. Praise the effort, not speed. For children with autism or speech delay, the fixed layout, the same shopkeeper and the same voice make the game predictable, and pretend shops are a common way to practise social words in therapy too. Keep sessions short and play together when you can; for toddlers under two, a real shop visit with you is better than a screen. If you have concerns about your child's development, talk to your paediatrician.
For more play with food words, see fruits name in Hindi and English, and for a mixed set of games for this age try games for 5 year olds.
