“Financial peace isn’t the acquisition of stuff. It’s learning to live on less than you make, so you can give money back and have money to invest. You can’t win until you do this.” – Dave Ramsey, American financial advisor
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Hi,
Thanks to my 10 year old daughter who appears to be growing into a young business lady showing lots of interest in money, investment, earnings, expenses, savings, I decided to put together an article called “Kids and Money” about math, money and investment for kids.
I have read many posts with ideas for young kids starting a small business and how to make a little money, but this article will be different.
I will not provide ideas for our young children to do business but will try to explain the basics of math concept to practice and enjoy from a young age and the toys and games to enjoy if your child is showing interest!
I do not believe we should forcibly push our kids in one direction or the another, but I do believe:
- If a child shows interest in a certain field, be a good listener, spot this and support him or her with discussion, lessons, fun activities and gifts/toys
- Assure our young children get the math basics right from the beginning (I will explain this concept more in this post!)
Since you can’t separate business or investment from numbers, let’s start by learning numbers as well as counting but first let’s discuss the real basics of mathematic concept.
Here I do believe it is important to teach children from 3 years old on, the concept of going forward or jumping forward and going/jumping backward (without turning around). When you ask a young child to go backward, they will most likely turn themselves around and go forward instead of going backward. It is important to play and teach them to go backward (when you walk turned around basically you cannot see where you are going). I play a lot with 2-5 years old jumping or walking going front or backward. This is the basic of the number line they will learn later in class:
This is fun to play and important to understand through our body, not just flash cards or written numbers!
So to talk about Kids and Money, lets first make sure they know numbers and counting.
Here are some classic and nice games that can help. Here are two of my choice:
Another important topic in “Kids and Money” is the identification of coins and bills, the feeling and roleplay aspect of this.
Here are some games you can use:
Kids and Money can be fun! I recommend starting by fun games around numbers. Check those out:
Next topic under “Kids and Money” and once children learn numbers and counting, is all about allowances, weekly or monthly, depending on your belief, values and possibilities.
At our home we provide on the 1st of each month, an allowance for each child from 8 years old and up. From that amount, each child is expected to keep 10% for a donation family project, 20% saving and the rest for themselves to enjoy!
I actually emphasize the importance of enjoying it on clothes, candies, gifts…it is not all about saving for the future! We, as parents, have a hard time spending anything on ourselves. Some of us prefer to buy gifts for others. I am like that. My mom is the same! I am still learning to spend on myself😊
Reading about this important matter, one company got my interest. Have you heard about Money Savvy?
Check this Money Savvy Pig that teaches children to set goals, save, invest, donate and enjoy! There are 4 parts to it. The part of “invest” is new to me and an important point to think about!
Did you know (about allowances)?
Based on a survey by CreditCards.com in 2019:
- only 40% of children under the age of 18 receive allowance
- The median payout is $4 a week
- The median age is 8 years old
- 10% of parents pay via mobile payments, such as Venmo or Cash App, 10% use a direct bank transfer and 10% pay with a debit card.
There are different views as far as paying kids for duties or chores at home. I personally prefer not to pay. I strongly believe they are part of the family and each of us has responsibilities and duties. My oldest daughters help with the dishwasher, evening meal, sometimes cleaning toilets weekly. My youngest helps with feeding our cat.
Now that they start saving, planning what to spend and what to keep for the future, we can start talking about investment or business, thanks to games we play together!
Here are selected games for 7+ about money and investment:
Monopoly for Age 8+ – there are few products (My daughter can play and play for ever!!)
Spin2Win: A Learning Game of Money & Math for Ages 7+
Finally within Kids and Money, here are selected games for Age 10+ about money and investment:
Last, in this important topic of “Kids and Money”, i wish to mention a book and a game i personally love, great for teenagers and adults!
I hope you found this article interesting, not too specific but not too vague with some real help on the importance of money, saving, investment! Enjoy the teaching! It is all about Conscious parenting!!
I love playing Monopoly and Game of Life with my kid! I also think a good way for them to learn about money is starting a lemonade stand or doing chores and getting money for it.
My son can play Monopoly forever too!!! But thank you for your new game ideas! Teaching children to handle money is very important!