What better way to raise financially literate kids than with these 5 classic financial games?
Educating kids about financial literacy is important; they need to grow up to make good choices and become smart consumers. But while it’s agreed that teaching children about money make good “cents,” many adults feel lost about the best way to start!
Games provide a great opportunity for children to enhance their financial acumen and skills. My advice for parents and educators is to teach children about finances from a young age. This will instill good habits necessary for life.
Make this learning process fun with the introduction of money games. On this very topic, I sat down with toy guru, Shari Bricks Zeiler from Toytown. For those of us in and around the GTA, Toytown is Toronto’s oldest family-run, independent toy store, nestled in the heart of midtown.
Some of Shari’s suggested financial games parents will remember fondly from their youth. These quality games never go out of style and they are available in toy stores all over North America. The combination of traditional and new toys will help little learners develop vital financial skills. The best part is they will have a great time in the process!
Here are five educational games kids will love not only for financial literacy month but all year round.
Fisher-Price Cash Register
For Ages: 2 years and up
What better way to teach children about money than with a cash register? Fisher-Price has taken their classic 1975 model and jazzed it up. This toy will help kids become familiar with money, coins, and the concepts of buying and selling. Parents can also incorporate pretend play by creating a storefront, lemonade stand or restaurant.
For Ages: 4 and up
Piggy banks are long associated with teaching kids to save money. However, this award-winning pig has taken this concept to the next level. It has a translucent body with four compartments for spending, saving, investing and donating. An excellent visual aid to teach kids how to allocate their allowance, and other money that they earn or receive as gifts.
Canadian Currency X-Change Activity Set
For Ages: 5 and up
A wonderful introduction to money is with actual pretend currency. This set of play money comes with more than 100 coins and bills to create lots of opportunities to practice counting and hone basic math skills. Children will have a lot of fun with this realistic looking currency.
For Ages: 8 and up
A classic board game to learn about budgeting, decision making, and managing expenses. Players learn to buy businesses, take out loans and pay bills every month. The goal is to have the most cash and savings at the very end.
For ages: 8 and up
Remember playing Monopoly growing up? Now it’s time to try this nostalgic financial game with your little ones. Students will learn about financial decision making, buying and mortgaging property, and collecting rent. The perfect present for the budding real estate tycoon!
Joanne is a Director at Teachers on Call, a personalized home tutoring service with over 30 years of experience, providing one-on-one instruction in all subjects and grades. In addition to regularly blogging about educational news, learning strategies and the latest in student books, Joanne is a busy new mom and Co-Chair of the Corsage Project, a non-profit organization in partnership with the Children's Aid Foundation.
