"A quarter!" proclaimed my 3-year-old daughter Claire as she swiped a penny from my desktop. Clearly, her grasp of applied economics was lacking. So we raided our recycling bin and sock drawers for supplies, and made an animal coin bank. (We considered a pig bank, but Claire's love of dogs won out.) Coins are now correctly identified as they're dropped in, and my desktop remains free of loose change.

What you'll need:

How to make it:

1. Screw or snap the lid tightly onto the jar or container, then turn the jar upside down, onto its lid. Use the utility knife to carefully cut a coin slot (1 1/2 inches long and 1/4 inch wide) on the side of the jar, about an inch down from what's now the top of the bank.
2. Have your child pull the sock down over the jar until the heel of the sock is at the top of the bank and the cuff reaches the bottom (if the sock is a bit long, just trim the cuff to fit).
3. If your child is old enough to use scissors, have her cut the foot of the sock down the middle into two pieces (the dog's "ears"), stopping just before the top of the jar. She can tie the ears together in a loose knot at the top of the bank.
4. Use the scissors to cut through the sock to expose the coin slot.
5. Glue a felt-scrap-and-button face on the bank (or draw one on with markers).
6. Write the dog's name on the key tag, then thread the ribbon through the ring attached to the tag. Now attach the collar: Smear some glue on one end of the ribbon, then stick that end onto the back of the bank, about 1 inch up from the base. Wrap the ribbon around the bank until it meets the other end. Put more glue on this end of the ribbon, and press to adhere.

Originally published in Wondertime magazine.