Best Holiday Buys to Teach Kids About Money
It’s that wonderful time of year again and as I said in my last couple of posts, I’m trying something new this year that I hope will help you with your gift shopping needs.
Family Money Values blog and site will both publish frequent ‘best buy’ type articles intended to share with you products we like and use that will help your family to use your values to keep your family’s wealth and well being for generations to come.
If you read my blog, you know I hold
It’s that wonderful time of year again and as I said in my last couple of posts, I’m trying something new this year that I hope will help you with your gift shopping needs.
Family Money Values blog and site will both publish frequent ‘best buy’ type articles intended to share with you products we like and use that will help your family to use your values to keep your family’s wealth and well being for generations to come.
If you read my blog, you know I hold Grandma Rie’s Money Camp each year for my two grandchildren. As a result of planning for that each year, I have been on a search for ways to teach young children personal finance concepts. Here is what I have found so far and what may help you with your kids and grandkids too. I have used these products, or some version of them and they have worked well with my now 4 and 8 year old grandchildren.
They make nice holiday presents that you can use with them all year long.
Games.
One of our most popular posts is What is Your Favorite Board Game to Teach Financial Literacy. In it I described several games that are my favorites, such as Monopoly, Cash Flow for Kids, Thrive Time for Teens and so on. Last summer, my 8 year old Grandson and I played Thrive Time for Teens – even though he isn’t one yet. He really enjoyed learning the game.
Portfolio The Asset Allocation Game.
I’ve found a new financial game since then, but this one is more advanced. I haven’t tried it with the kids yet. I’ve played it and think that it will be great once the kids reach their teen years and it would also be great for adults of any age. I did a review of this game so check it out here: Investment Board Game Review – Portfolio – the Asset Allocation Game.
Books for adults.
Young Bucks: How to Raise a Future Millionaire
This book is for adults responsible for raising entrepreneurial kids. The author, Troy Dunn, suggests that the best way to accomplish this is to give your kids (or grand kids) the gift of want. Dunn gives some very practical methods to get your kids started in their own kid businesses. If you aren’t an entrepreneur and don’t have a clue how to start helping your kids reach that desirable state, this is the book for you!
Silver Spoon Kids : How Successful Parents Raise Responsible Children
Again, this book is for adults, this time for affluent ones. However, the book is a good resource for any parent.
The authors combine their talents of law and psychology to bring us a great resource on raising kids in an affluent world. Whether you have money or not, if you live in America, the message of affluence is all around your children. This book explains how to identify and define your own money story and personality using tools and question to define your money acquisition, use and management tenancies so that you can be aware of how you tend to interact with your kids about money. Theoretical concepts of five stages in child development set the framework for a chapter on talking with your kids about money at different ages. Allowances, ways to expose your child to diverse lifestyles, philanthropy and parenting in today’s world of blended families and more are all covered. This is a comprehensive book, an easy read and covers some points not typically covered in child rearing books.
If you are a parent in America, this is, in my opinion, a must read. It would make a nice gift for parents.
Children of Paradise: Successful Parenting for Prosperous Familes
The last book for adults in today’s post.
Hausner identifies the challenges in raising children of affluence, but presents sound parenting techniques that can be used by parents of any means. She covers developing your child’s esteem, the importance of parents directly spending time with their children, motivating (as opposed to forcing success) a child to succeed; the importance of letting your child develop their own competencies and ways that parents or other caregivers can interfere with that development; learning how to listen and talk with your children – so they will listen and talk with you; brat proofing; disciplining and learning the value of money are also covered. In all, she provides specific techniques, along with the reasons they should be used.
Kids books I used in Grandma Rie’s Money Camp.
The Berenstain Bears’ Trouble with Money
by Stan and Jan Berenstain
The cute illustrations help hold interest as the bears earn money at various endeavors so they can get some spending money.
Alexander, Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday
by Judith Viorst
Alexander got a monetary gift, we watch as it goes out the window piece by piece.
The Little Red Hen
(Folk Tale Classics)
I used this classic to help teach the idea of self sufficiency.
The Emperor’s New Clothes
This one can help you teach that clothing and accoutrements are not important.
If You Give a Pig a Pancake Big Book
Since I don’t want my grand kids to be moochers, I used this book to teach that sometimes giving things to people is not the best way to go – teach a man to fish instead of giving him a fish type deal. The 4 year old went nuts over this one and we read it over and over. After the second reading, the 8 year old was done.
Richard Scarry’s What Do People Do All Day
Another classic that helps you give kids an idea about ways to earn money and the need for different types of jobs.
Busy Day, Busy People by Tibor Gergely
Another version of a way to show kids the kinds of jobs that exist. My son’s loved this one when they were little.
Toys.
A big part of what I am trying to help teach my grand kids is that they can be their own boss and own/run their own businesses. Each year we come up with a way for them to earn money and we practice with play before they actually ‘do’ their ‘business’.
Pretend play is a great way to involve younger children – and it was great fun for me playing with them. We had a pretend shop that carried whatever the kids wanted to put up ‘for sale’ in it – all the way from canned goods from Mom’s pantry to Nerf guns and DVDs!
Another time, we set up a cafe that offered pretend pizza, cupcakes, cookies and ice cream.
Using props to help your pretend play will make it more realistic and easier for you to set up and use to teach. Here are a few we used with a sample (we used ones the kids already had).
Cash register
Learning Resources Pretend and Play Calculator Cash Register
Play money
Melissa & Doug Play Money Set
You can also just use the play money out of one of your board games, like Monopoly – along with real coins.
Shopping cart
Little Tikes Shopping Cart – Yellow/Red
Play pizza parlor or grocery shop or ice cream shop
Melissa & Doug Deluxe Grocery Store / Lemonade Stand
Melissa and Doug pizza party,cookies, cupcakes, ice creams
Melissa & Doug Pizza Party
Melissa & Doug Felt Food – Cookie Decorating Set
Melissa and Doug Cupcake set
These are so cool and made of wood. The cupcakes can be ‘iced’ and decorated with erasable markers. There are candles to put on and etc. I got some for my grand daughter when she was around 2 and we have used them in pretend play a lot.
Melissa & Doug Ice Cream Scoop Set
Little Tikes Super Chef Kitchen
Hopefully I gave you some ideas for those wanting to teach kids about money as well as some wonderful tools and toys to do so. If you do decide to click through these links, you will go to Amazon.com and if you buy while there, we will get a small commission which helps keep this blog going!
What do you use to teach kids about money? I’d love to hear some more suggestions (I have to plan money camp for next summer!).
