Financial literacy is crucial for any adult looking to get ahead in life, but it’s not something most of us learn at an early age. Just the words “financial literacy” can seem overwhelming for kids. Perhaps that’s why many schools don’t teach this subject despite how important it is.
In order to ensure kids have a positive relationship with money, we need to teach them about finances. Of course, the biggest obstacle to overcome is how to make financial literacy fun. After all, discussing financial matters can often put fully grown adults to sleep. So, how can we hold our children’s attention long enough to make them understand money?
Money Matching
The first step to understanding finances is knowing about currency. From an adult perspective, it seems obvious which bills and coins are which. And although kids are eventually taught this in school, the earlier they learn, the better.
This worksheet tasks kids with matching bills and coins to one another. It presents itself as a matching game, but it gives parents or caretakers the opportunity to educate. As your child matches each form of currency, you can remind them which is which and even give them an idea of what one can purchase with each bill or coin.
Personalized Piggy Bank
Even if you weren’t schooled on financial literacy growing up, you likely had a piggy bank. Using one makes collecting money as a child exciting. (It’s kind of crazy how thrilled we were to dump our allowances into a pig-shaped container, isn’t it?)
The thing about piggy banks is that they do teach kids about saving. Saving is a critical component of being financially literate, and this worksheet shows kids how money can work for them. It has children set goals for themselves — much like adults who separate their savings into different categories would — and then determine how much to put toward each objective.
This will this teach kids to prioritize how they save their money. On top of that, it will show them how to make every dollar count.
Need vs. Want
Learning to distinguish between the things we want and the things we need is a big part of growing up. This need vs. want worksheet enables parents to teach kids the difference between necessities and luxuries. It introduces various items one might spend money on and has you choose which category it falls into. It can also spark conversations about objects that fall into the middle. For example, clothing can be a necessity if what you already own is damaged or no longer fits.
Credit Score Word Search
The minimum age to get a credit card is 18, but that doesn’t mean kids can’t learn about building credit earlier. This credit score word search will teach them all the important terms associated with improving your credit score. And it will make a game out of it — one that even adults will enjoy getting in on!
Word Problems
Problem-solving is a requirement for managing money, especially when it comes to figuring out taxes and paying off debt. Although word problems may be reminiscent of math textbooks, they give kids an opportunity to apply what they’ve learned to real-world situations. They’ll be forced to do this before long anyway, so practicing will put them ahead.
