Activities for Money Smart Kids

Teaching kids about money and how to be money smart can be a really stress-inducing thought.  If you as an adult have any money stress at all, the thought of teaching your children about it may in fact cause you anxiety and it can be for many reasons.  Maybe you are great with money, and worry that your kids won’t be.  Maybe you are not so great with money, and worry that you don’t have the skills to teach your kids how to be money smart.  Regardless of how we feel about money, we as parents, have the responsibility to teach our kids not only how to make and save money, but also how to spend it.

Check out these Activities for Money Smart Kids for some ideas.

Teach kids about money with Spend, Save and Give Jars like these by Mess For Less.  Whenever your kids get money they put some of their money into their 3 jars. How your kids divvy it up is going to depend on your own values and that’s where you teach your children what is important and why.

Teaching Money to Kids with the Money Game by Teach Beside Me is a great way to help kids realize how much life costs, how hard it can be to save money and also how important it is.

Left Brain Craft Brain has made this Money Smarts Math Game as well – and it’s a game based on the same concept mentioned above of the Spend Save and Give jars as well.  Kids move around the board, draw cards and are tasked with putting their money in and moving it between their Spend, Save and Give jars. ( This game is free!)

Steam Powered Family has this excellent printable for Teaching Compound Interest through the exercise of creating and managing a family bank account.

The Measured Mom has a bunch of Coin Activities here for younger kids, as always – adult supervision is required!

Mom Dot has created this 52 Week Money Challenge for kids that reaps great rewards if your kids can stick to it!  Parents could ( and should?) do this alongside their children.  And don’t be shy to scale down – sometimes there just are no extra quarters – so use nickels!  The lesson is the same!

This Counting Coins Money Game by Fantastic Fun and Learning has a 26 page free printable and SO MANY ways that you can use it!

Maybe Money really can grow on trees?  Check out this Dollar Tree Game by School Time Snippets for lots of money counting fun!

Tackle fundraising and see how spare change adds up with Coin Wars by Playground Parkbench.

And play a round or two of this free printable Money Matching Game by Life Over Cs.

Teaching Kids Money Management by Mama Smiles is an excellent article on not only how to save money, but she gives good tips and experience on how to spend money – which is something that is increasingly important in our credit laden society.

Let me know how these work out for you!