Using coins seems to be very popular when I have guests over. I provide the quarters but people seem to enjoy inserting them and hearing the game coin up.
I like the idea of teaching kids using this method.

It's hypocritical because when you were a kid you played furiously until all your pockets were empty of coins

Think the kids will figure out what a big screw driver can do, when they run out of coins ?

LTG : )

I've set my machine to only accept bitcoin to teach the little ones about virtual money.

Gold and silver coins only. Lol.

I like throwing coins in TBL just to hear "Gimme the fuckin money" !

I like using coins too, especially quarters. My slot machine and some of my pinballs take quarters it's just a way of saving money. Kind of like a piggy bank.

My father had a pretty good method for teaching us the value of money.
It was pretty simple really.
Other than necessary items like clothes etc., he didn’t buy us a lot of stuff.
Sure we got toys and thing on Christmas and birthdays, but throughout the rest of the year not so much.
His theory was “if you want something, then you work and save your money and pay for it yourself”.
Things like my first real skateboard, Nintendo, comic book collection etc we’re all a bought with my own money that I earned either doing yard work or spending weekends and summers in my dads shop putting postage stamps on envelopes and stuffing envelopes when he was doing a mass mailing.

I hope you remembered that speech for his old folks home.

LTG : )

it's all fun and games, 'til you go to sell it and some tire-kicking buyer sees the coin audits and accuses you of lying about it's Home Use Only status, then jumps on pinside to "warn" others about the bad seller @sponjey, making sure to carefully detail the way the conversation went, how much of his precious time you wasted, and how he had to angrily walk away, exclaiming to the group "never again!!!", prompting many other users to chastise your scammy methods, and ask where the seller is to tell his side of the story. all of this unbeknownst to you, because instead of staring at pinside for hours on end, and carefully monitoring the value of your "precious investment", you're being a good parent, bonding with family, and teaching important life lessons, all in the form of playing pinball with your kids.

*i'm totally kidding. i've been planning on doing this exact same thing with my 22 month old when she grows up a little more. It's an awesome idea.

Get a coin operated pool table with the coin pusher mech. The sound of the billiard balls dropping to the subway so they can be accessed and racked is priceless. Brings back good memories of the location pool games of my college years.

Under 5 is too young for this method of teaching them about money IMO. If they don't have any income (allowance), they can't really grasp what you're trying to teach them. Your daughter is already willing to empty her piggy bank without thinking about things she may want to buy later.

At that young, the game should be treated as a reward. Stay out of trouble and keep your room mostly clean, play all the pinball you want. Do something wrong or don't pick up all the toys on your floor, no pinball for you.

"I pay the kids' allowance in quarters to do chores - used the same roll of quarters for ten years and never spent another dime!" - 2032 update.

Thread reminded me of this guy:
https://atlantablackstar.com/2020/05/18/train-up-a-child-north-carolina-father-goes-viral-for-teaching-8-year-old-son-financial-literacy/

Charging your kids to play pinball is the number one way to get them to not play pinball. Enough said on that.

I was in the search for a snack vending maching a bit ago and never found one. Now, that's a way to teach the kids the value of money. If I gave my kids a choice between pinball and a selection of chips. They are going for the chips.