A Different Bank

3/18/2020

for age 5 and up

I am sure you are all very familiar with what a typical piggy bank looks like. Well, I don’t know about you, but, I have always wondered how piggy banks received its name. And, why not a doggy bank or better, a cake bank?

So today, we are going to do some research, designing, and making a different type of bank.

The origin of the piggy bank. Research and read about the history of a piggy bank. A good place to start would be reading an article by Mandi Woodruff, from Business Insider.
The largest piggy bank. Have you seen Rachel? She is probably the most famous pig that almost everyone knows in Seattle. As the mascot that stood on the corner of Pike Place Market, she is a real piggy bank, raising money for Pike Market Foundation. Created by Georgia Gerber in 1986, Rachel weights about 550 pounds. You can read more fun facts and find a picture of Rachel at Seeing Rachel.
Piggy banks that are not shaped like a pig. Not every piggy bank is in the form of a pig. For example, Brooklyn Museum has a collection that dated in 1820. It is called Bank in Form of a Cat. Now you may wonder, aren’t materials such as ceramic fragile? In fact, if you pay attention, most piggy banks are easy to break.

What would be the reasons behind it?
In some culture, people use natural resources to create their own piggy bank. What are they made of? And how to access the money?
Research and see what you can find.

4. Can you list three unique forms of piggy banks that you may have seen or owned?
Please write a short description on one of your favorite piggy banks below.
Make sure to describe its materials, style, design, and special functions.
(1) _________________________________________________________________
(2) _________________________________________________________________
(3) _________________________________________________________________

Create and Design
Design and build your piggy bank using LEGO. Your challenge is to create different openings for different sizes of coins (penny, nickel, dime, quarter, and dollar). Use ruler if you need to. When you design, think of its function (store the coins) and characters (color and shape).

Materials

Watch A Sample

Examples from community kids who participated.

The children are so creative and imaginative. They paid attention to the size of openings for coins.

First, is an example from Peyton in Canada. His teacher Mr. Penner found my lesson and encourage his students to try. I received a surprised email from one of the students. Peyton Slind. He is willing to share his wonderful creation. (Thank you Peyton, Thank you Mr. Penner!)