When it comes to school, kids know they have to pass their math class to move on to the next grade. As an elementary student, this means you will need to know how to identify pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, and dollar bills. You will also need to know how to count money so that you can buy stuff you want at the store. If you have watched your parents, then you know that money runs out eventually. However, you may hear your friend talking about how their parents have enough saved in their bank accounts. Others may share with the class how their parents made money in the stock market over the week. What does all of this mean? Use the following links to learn more about the importance of earning, saving, spending, budgeting, and investing money.
Money Games
Let’s face it: learning about money can be pretty boring. You may have heard enough cents to make you lose your sense in math class. Even if your parents told you that money can help you buy a new PlayStation 3, it still probably wasn’t enough to get you interested in counting pennies. After all, what good does counting pennies do when you want to play a game right now! These games are packed with fun and adventure and will teach you about money as you play them!
- Practical Money Skills: Interactive Games: Kids can learn how to manage their money by playing these fun games, including Financial Football, Road Trip in Savings , and ED’s Bank .
- The Centsables: Become a super hero to regain your cents of mind.
- The Fun Vault: Know Your Dough: An interactive game that tests your ability to identify different types of money.
- Orange Kids: Learn about the importance of managing money, including earning, saving, spending, and investing.
- Jump$tart: Reality Check: An interactive game that challenges you to manage money as if you were living on your own!
- It All Adds Up: A webpage offering a series of interactive games that teach young kids how to build credit, buy a car, pay for college, budget their money, save, and invest in the stock market.
- Fraud Scene Investigator (FSI): This game teaches young kids how to detect and stop one million dollar investment fraud.
- FedVille: This game places young kids like yourself in a small town, where you will learn how to open up a savings account, get a job, earn money, save, budget, and spend it all in one shot just like grown adults!
- H.I.P. Pocket Change: The United States Mint introduces Break the Bank , an interactive game that challenges kids’ understanding of money management.
- Financial Entertainment: A webpage offering a series of games to help better personal financial management skills, including Refund Rush, Bite Club, Celebrity Calamity, Farm Blitz, and Groove Nation .
- Financial Soccer: Finally, you can play soccer and learn at the same time!
Saving Money
While you may never make enough money from your weekly allowance to buy a car, you can save enough to buy a bicycle. A weekly allowance gives you the choice of spending your money now on small stuff, or saving it to buy something big you cannot afford. If you choose to save your money, then you will have fun in getting the large ticket item you always wanted. Saving your allowance can also help you pay for repairs on your bicycle.
- Money As You Grow: This website helps kids learn how to save their money to buy things they cannot afford all in one shot.
- How Does Money Work? WebQuest: A WebQuest that teaches students interesting facts about money, including how to save, spend, budget, and invest it in the stock market.
- The Ultimate Money WebQuest: A WebQuest that teaches students how the government creates money, and how banks make coinage from bills.
- Money, Money, Money!: A lesson plan that teaches kids about the history of money, its importance to society, and why your parents can live comfortably from it when they manage it correctly.
- Wise Pockets: You can learn how to manage your money wisely from these four wise characters.
- PBS Kids: Making Money: This webpage teaches kids how they can earn a little independence when they start making money for themselves.
- Feed the Pig: Kids can feed their piggy banks by using this website’s tools, tips, quizzes, and other resources.
- BizKid$: A television show that teaches kids how to save and better manage their money with several tools, contests, games, and other resources.
- Get $mart About Your Money (PDF): Use this 16-page workbook to help build your understanding of money management.
- Project C.H.A.N.G.E: Project CHANGE challenges you to dream big, save smart, and make better choices about money.
Spending/Budgeting
There’s nothing wrong with spending a little money. Overspending, however, can lead to big problems that may take a very long time to fix. Budgeting your money makes sure that it goes to the right places. It also helps you save money while still having a little fun. For instance, you can take a couple of dollars from the allowance you get every week to buy a chocolate bar and can of soda pop. The rest of the money can go into savings where you will buy the bicycle you always wanted.
More Helpful Links
Learning about money involves more than saving and spending money wisely. You also need to know how to invest it to make more than what you have in your hands. In addition, you will need to know how to keep yourself out of debt to prevent having to pay back money that you do not have. Lastly, you should know about building credit to buy affordable cars and homes. These links will help build onto your basic understanding of personal finance.
- Money Word Search: You can learn important terms related to money with this word search.
- What Kids Need to Know About Credit: Kids who wish to learn how to manage their money and build credit can learn from these guides.
- Buying Your First Car: Use this lesson plan to learn how to buy your first car!
- EduStock: Use this lesson plan to learn about the ins and outs of the stock market.
- Money Coins: Learn about the different money denominations with this coloring sheet!
- Money Instructor: Printable Coloring Pages: These printable coloring pages help kids learn about the different types of money and where it comes from to end up in our pockets.
- What is Debt?: This webpage explains why people have to repay money they borrow.
- The History of Money: Learn more about the history of money.
- You Are Here: Learn the secrets of advertising and how it works to influence people to spend money when they really may not want to in the end.
- Money Flashcards: These online flashcards test the ability of young kids to count money.
