Money management is a crucial life skill; the earlier your child starts learning about it, the better. While talking about finances sounds boring, children must be financially literate so that they can. Here are 15 creative and engaging ways to transform money lessons into fun and interactive experiences for your child:
Playing Shop
You can teach young children the value of money from an early age by using a toy store at home with wooden groceries or safe items from your kitchen. Eventually, you can turn real grocery shopping into a learning adventure by giving your child a small budget and letting them choose items within that limit.
Set an Allowance
Giving your child an allowance allows them to learn about budgeting, saving, and responsible spending. You can add a twist by dividing the allowance into portions for spending, saving, and giving to emphasize the true value of money.
Piggy Bank Parade
Instead of one piggy bank, children can have a variety of banks for different goals. Kids can decorate each bank and have one for “Movie Night Money,” “Toy Fund,” or a “Donation Jar,” for example. This allows children to visually track their savings progress if they don’t like the idea of a digital bank account.
Lemonade Stand
Setting up a lemonade stand or similar together gives you the chance to discuss the costs of ingredients, pricing strategies, and the concept of profit. Your children will experience the value of hard work and earning money but will have plenty of fun at the same time.
Real Life Role Play
Involving your child in age-appropriate bill payments is a great way for them to understand financial responsibility. You can explain what each bill is for and why paying them on time is important. You can let them “help” you pay online or at a bank so they know the full process.
Allowance Earning Opportunities
In addition to a standard allowance, you can create opportunities for your child to earn extra money through additional chores or errands. This reinforces the connection between effort, earning, and responsible money management so things like cleaning the car, weeding the garden, or helping with laundry are ideal ways to reinforce this message.
The Coin Challenge
Saving loose change is a great way to teach your children the value of each coin. Sort a jar of coins together and discuss their value, denomination, and how they can be combined to make different amounts. The game can be adapted for different ages, making sorting tasks more difficult as your child matures.
The “Needs vs. Wants” Game
Another way to have fun with money is to create a chart to categorize items as “needs” or “wants”. This helps them understand how to prioritize what we need to buy for services, such as food, energy bills, and clothing, and the items we only buy if we have enough money left, such as candy and cinema tickets. This also helps children understand the concept of delayed gratification.
The “Wish List” Moodboard
Another creative way to teach your child the value of money and the need to save is to have them create a “wish list.” You can use pictures or cutouts from toy brochures to stick onto a piece of cardboard, discussing the cost of each item and how much saving is needed to achieve their goals.
Child’s Bank Account
Explore age-appropriate bank accounts, such as Revoult and Go Henry. There are also online budgeting apps or online tools that can make saving and spending visually engaging and help them track their progress toward different goals. Some apps also have finance lessons where children can earn points for completing each module.
The “Charity Choice” Challenge
Involve your child in choosing a charitable cause they care about to show them how important it is to help others. They can dedicate some of their savings or encourage them to raise money for this cause. You can talk your child through some case studies of the things charities spend their money on.
Movie Magic with a Money Twist
Watch movies with themes of financial responsibility or overcoming financial challenges. This can demonstrate how different people live; not everyone has the same family income as they do. You can discuss the lessons learned in the movie and how they apply to real-life situations.
Library Learning
Visit your local library or look online for resources that explore age-appropriate books about money management. Reading together can spark discussions and make learning fun rather than make them feel they’re being lectured.
The “Career Conversation”
Talk to your child about different careers, salary ranges, and skill expectations. You can discuss the importance of education and skills for achieving their dream job and the earning potential for different jobs.
The “Future Planning” Discussion
Talk about your own financial goals and how you save for things you need and want. In age-appropriate ways, such as involving them in discussions about saving for college, you can also talk about how much it costs to keep a home and go on vacation as examples of people’s financial responsibilities.
Harvi Sadhra is the CEO of Revir Media. He has over 10 years of experience in digital media and has been featured in many of the largest media brands on topics related to finance, stocks, money, technology, and more.