As well as getting a lot of maths from shopping receipts you can actually get quite a bit of English. The children can try and locate as much information as they can from the ticket. Things they can look for include...

• shop visited (store name, address, telephone number) - this is usually the made to stand out in some way
• products bought (often use abbreviations here) and their individual cost
• method of payment/amount (often highlighted by indentation or an asterisk)
• change given
• date and time of shopping trip
• other details (transaction number, till number, operator name/number)
• receipt often ends with a message of thanks from the store

Suitable chosen (or created) shopping receipts can be given to the children. Their task could be to imagine who has bought the shopping on the list using the items bought as clues to the character of the shopper. They could then go on to write about a day in that character's life.