Who knew a jar of coins could be so much fun?! Gather your nieces and nephews for day filled with coin counting, sorting, jingling, ca-chinging and shopping.

First, get that jar of coins that's been sitting there gathering dust and change for years. Empty it out and help your nieces and nephews sort the coins. Then, have them count how much is there. You'd be surprised how quickly the change adds up! Of course, you don't need to do this now that there are coin machines that count the change for you, but this is a great way to teach young kids about counting and the value of coins.

Now that you know approximately how much money you have in coins, take the change to a coin machine or bank where they have (sometimes free) change machines. The kids will love dumping all that change into the machine and hearing it sort through all the coins, like a little mini-Las Vegas casino!

Once you have converted your change into dollars, split the money between your nieces and nephews. Depending on how much money you ended up with, you can take them to a dollar store or a large toy retailer and let them choose a gift each with their share. This experience will also teach them about the value of money.

Or instead of a toy, take the kids and their bounty out for ice cream sundaes. Or, have them decide on a portion to give to charity - or have them give it all to charity.

That's what we call making a niece and nephew experience count!

Please tell us what your nieces and nephews did with their change. We're counting on it!