Fun Ways To Teach Children About Money

I am no expert at child care, and being a last born who was born with an old soul, I had very little interaction with children growing up, and this is where I need your input. Read my ideas below, and let me know if you think they would work on young children.  Do you have additional ideas on fun ways to teach kids about money? Share them in the comments section, we are all learning!

There are different schools of thoughts on the extent to which parents can prepare a child for life: Some people believe that peers have greater influence, others believe the first 9 years of a child’s life shapes their world perception. I belong to the latter group, and I especially believe that as we grow older, the values our parents instill in us matter more than what our peers are up to. This has been true for me especially in my 20s. Right now, my mom, and my much older friends are my go-to persons for all lifedecisions: they know loads!

So, assuming we can train our children on money, how do we make it fun?
I believe we all learn best by doing things practically, and my focus would be to make your kids practice making money (or pseudo-money) decisions starting as early as possible:

Introducing the concept of money
I don’t have a recommended age by which one should introduce the concept of money, but I think as soon as a child starts demanding stuff, you should explain as simply as possible that stuff costs money, and mommy and daddy work for money. This can be at about 2/3 years old depending on the child’s maturity level. However, be careful how you introduce it, you don’t want to create a scarcity concept in the child’s mind: Money is a slave, not a servant, and money is neutral, so be careful not to pass on your own perception of work and money if they’re negative.

Teach them how to file documents (Age 3 years)
This is purely for a selfish motive on my part.

Few people like filing work, and we tend to pile papers till we can’t avoid them any more. I hate filing, and I do it when it is totally unavoidable. However, from as old as 3 years, your child can learn to help you with your filing. Buy coloured files with corresponding coloured document trays (or even use empty printing paper boxes as document trays, think about how fun it will be to colour them together). Take time one evening to show him/her how to punch and file papers, and practise doing so together. When you get mail, all you will have to do is to open it and drop  it in the appropriate box. Let me know if you ever end up with a single unfiled paper. I watched mom teach my niece how to do this, and it was amazing how excited she was to do a job that’s rather mundane. Those are kids for you. And don’t forget to reward the child, she saved you!

Expense tracking (Age: 5-6 yrs)
Too early? I don’t think so. We are trying to make money habits as natural as breathing, so it is never too early. As soon as your child can write legibly, make expense tracking a fun activity.
Buy a book specifically for this, and assign each page for an expense category, and teach her how copy various items into their respective categories when you come from shopping. They may be too young to understand the mathematics of it, and they will drive you crazy asking where to categorize every item on your 20-item shopping list, but you will be killing 3 birds with one stone: they practise their writing, learn about money, and help you keep your records right.

Make expense tracking an important role by appointing your child  to be your “accountant” (and find a way to reward her for it). You can also involve her in data entry, where she gets to read “her  accounts” out to you as you input them on computer, or even do it herself if she’s computer literate.
When they start having their own “money needs”, then recording will come naturally, because they have been doing it for you!

Investing (recommended for teenagers and parents alike)

I can’t think of a more practical and fun way to teach children how to invest than Rich Dad’s Cashflow 101.

The beauty of this game is that it teaches your children (and you) basic accounting, and it’s a fun board game that you can play as a family, instead of watching TV. Cashflow 101 can be a bit technical especially if you don’t have an accounting background, and a good starting point would be to get 6 of your friends and play together first. I can arrange for a play session, drop me an email on kellie@kelliemurungi.com if you’re interested.

My daughter just turned 1, but writing this post has left me so excited, I want to teach her about money tomorrow! It really is as easy as play.