Money Collection Envelopes for Kindergarten – This is Genius

Collecting money in kindergarten just got easy! How to collect and track money for special events, field trips and more without losing your sanity.

We seriously have so many times that we collect money in the classroom. In kindergarten, it can be tricky to collect money, know who you collected it from and how much.

I came up with a solution that worked really well for us in kindergarten.

My solution to collecting money in kindergarten and get those coins/dollar bills under control is to use plain white envelopes (affiliate link) as money collection envelopes. While they aren’t reusable, they sure are handy and efficient.

Here’s how I made them – they were super easy for my kinders, parents and me! You’ll love how easy this can be to use in your own classroom too.

Why money collection envelopes are genius

I felt like I was always collecting money – be it for book orders, popcorn day {oh, wonderful popcorn day}, picture day, a field trip or for even raising our own butterflies in kindergarten.

Everyone else uses envelopes in the real world, why not me in the classroom? This is why they are genius in the classroom.

They:

• keep money contained
• are less likely to get lost in kinder hands due to their sheer size
• can easily be identified by parents and teacher

And what I discovered is that I could print on envelopes to make custom ones for each event (like collecting money for the butterflies). I love that because it made it easy for parents and me.

Oh yes, and envelopes were one of the things I didn’t have to pay for. Our office had them available in the stock room so it was efficient and cost-effective for me.

How to make money collection envelopes

To make the money collection envelopes, I started in Microsoft Word.

1. Select File > New > Blank Document > Create
2. Click Mailings > Envelopes (Leave the new window that pops up blank) > Add to Document
3. Now you have 2 pages. One envelope sized and one that looks like a normal 8.5×11 sheet.
4. Insert your text, text boxes, clipart, etc. to design your envelope front.
5. Leave the second (normal 8.5×11) sheet blank unless you want to leave yourself a note or make a turn-in checklist sort of thing.
6. Save your work.

The things each envelope needed {in my opinion} is:

• a title (why we’re collecting money at a glance)
• room for the child’s name
• space to write the amount enclosed
• extremely brief directions, amount and info parents need with a due date

Normally I tried to make it very clear which info I needed parents to fill out by putting those items in boxes. I usually liked to add an image or piece of clipart too so I could easily identify it when talking to my students.

If you want parents to include a permission slip, be sure to give them a checkbox to check off to show that it’s been included in the envelope.

How to print your envelopes

Now, if you try to hit “print” – you’ll print the blank second 8.5×11″ page. Not what we’re going for. So here’s the trick!

1. To print just the envelopes, you need to first place your envelopes (a few at a time) into your printer paper tray. Use the manual or bypass tray if you have one.
2. Go to File > Print > Settings > Print Custom Range
3. Now enter page number 0 in the print custom range to select specific pages to print.
4. Choose how many copies you need for your class and hit print! That’s it.

Tips for collecting money in kindergarten

To use these handy little genius envelopes – it’s pretty straight forward. You send them home, parents return them and you collect them.

Just so you know, here are a few additional things I learned while using them about collecting money in kindergarten.

If you don’t need to count the money on the same day as received – then don’t open the envelopes yet

Collect the envelopes intact, check off on a class list who turned them in and the amount written on the envelope. I liked to use a check on a checklist if the amount written on the envelope was the amount given in the directions.

I only wrote down the amount turned in if it differed from the asked-for amount. That way, getting it all checked in went super fast like during our morning routine.

When you’re ready to use/count the money, turn all the envelopes onto one short side and give ’em a shake

You’re essentially sliding all the money down to one end of the envelopes.

I did this so I could rip or make a starter cut with scissors into a handful of envelopes at one time. This made opening them fast and efficient for me – but still kept everything in the proper envelope.

Now, if you are having parents include a permission slip in with the envelope – you might want to open each envelope the old fashioned way so you don’t rip the permission slip.

Be sure to find out what you should do with the money

Some school policies require that you turn in collected money each day and turn it into the office that way you’re not responsible if something happens to it while it’s in your classroom.

Right, so I didn’t know that my school had this policy until like after 8 years. For real.

Send home reminders

Of course, reminding parents that something is due (like if you sent the envelopes home more than a week ahead of time) is always good practice. I liked to send home quick reminder bracelets and my students liked them too.

Let’s wrap it up

There you have my simple solution to collecting money without the headaches in kindergarten. Once you make one envelope and print a bunch – you’ll want to use it every time.

Okay, maybe not every popcorn day, since it’s only a quarter, but you know, often. Money collection envelopes to the rescue {wink}

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More Classroom Organization

• How to Make an Everything Board for the Classroom
• Responsibility in a Bucket {kind of}
• How to Collect Papers Easily in Kindergarten
• How to Pass Out Papers at the End of the Day {Without Doing It Yourself}