Money Management Tips for Your Kids
From teaching your preschooler about coins to giving your child their first allowance, here's how you can start talking to your kids about money.
We've broken this article down into two sections: Preschool and Kindergarten-aged children, and Elementary and Middle School-aged children. For tips on age-appropriate money talks with your teens or young adult children, check out our article 8 Tips for Teaching Your High Schooler, College Student and Beyond About Money.
Preschool and Kindergarten: Lay the Foundation
Young children are eager to learn at this age. Take advantage of their natural curiosity by introducing them to basic money concepts through interactive play and exploration.
1. Teach Coin Recognition
Help your child identify and differentiate coins of various values. Use real coins during playtime to make learning hands-on and engaging.
2. Let Them Earn Money
Introduce simple tasks that your child can complete to earn money, such as helping with household chores. This teaches the value of hard work and earning rewards.
3. Encourage Saving Habits
Encourage your child to set aside a portion of their money in a piggy bank or put it in a Savings account. This lets them watch their money grow and teaches the importance of saving for future needs.
4. Establish Needs vs. Wants
Teach your child the difference between essential items and things they want. Use everyday scenarios to illustrate this concept, such as choosing between buying clothes for school or toys.
Recommended Tools and Games
- Play Peter Pig's Money Counter: This interactive game helps children ages four to seven learn coin sorting and counting skills while earning rewards to dress up Peter Pig. Download on Android or iOS devices.
- Play pretend: Use imaginative play to simulate real-world financial scenarios, such as playing store or setting up a pretend lemonade stand. This fosters creativity while teaching valuable money management skills.
- Open an eXtras Student Savings account: Once your child begins receiving money, they need a place to put it. Our eXtras Student Savings account is perfect for kids of any age. There are no monthly service fees or minimum account balances, and parents have complete access to the account as joint owners.
Elementary School and Middle School: Building on Basics
As children grow older, they can grasp more complex financial concepts and begin to apply them in practical situations. At this stage, you can introduce topics like budgeting, comparison shopping and responsible spending habits.
5. Give Them an Allowance
Give your child a weekly or monthly allowance and encourage them to allocate it wisely. Teach them how to budget for different expenses, such as saving, spending and giving.
6. Begin Tracking Purchases
Help your child keep track of their spending by maintaining a simple budget sheet or using budgeting apps designed for kids. This promotes accountability and awareness of how they're spending their money.
7. Teach Comparison Shopping
Involve your child in shopping trips and show them how to compare prices. Discuss the importance of making informed purchasing decisions.
8. Avoiding Impulse Buying
Teach your child to think critically before making impulse purchases. Help them decide if the purchase they want to make is a need or a want purchase, and decide on next steps together.
Recommended Tools and Games
- Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket's Powerful Plan: This comic book series, developed in collaboration with Visa and Marvel, teaches kids about saving money and distinguishing between wants and needs through the adventures of the Guardians of the Galaxy.
- Avengers: Saving the Day: Explore financial literacy concepts with Marvel's iconic superheroes in this engaging comic book series. Available online in multiple languages, it covers topics like saving, banking and budgeting.
- Open a 12-Month Starter Certificate: In addition to a Savings account, Certificates are an exceptional tool to help kids save and teach them the value of investments and delayed gratification. Open a 12-Month Starter Certificate for only $50 and teach them about dividends and Annual Percentage Yield (APY).
Check out the Starter Bundle on our Family page for more tools and resources for teaching and talking to your young children about money!
