Save Spend Give

The Money Savvy Generation website contains products and resources to teach kids about money from 4 years of age through teenagers.

One of the resources you can sign up for is the “Helping Kids Get Smart About Money” E Newsletter.

The Money Savvy Saving Banks have 4 separate chamber for Save, Spend, Donate and Invest. The banks come as pigs in blue, pink, red, purple, green, and platinum and also as a clear cow or a football.

They have recently added an I-phone app/game, Savings Spree which teaches kids how the choices they make each day can add up to big savings or big expenses. It is for children ages 7 and up (or younger with help from mom and dad or older sibling).

This is one of many resources available to teach kids about money.

ND Jumpstart Coalition consists of members and partners of the strongly believe that having financial skills is vital for a successful and prosperous life. We believe that all North Dakotans deserve to have the fundamental knowledge necessary to make important decisions that affect their financial health, their families and their futures.

Established in 2006, North Dakota Jump$tart is a nonprofit organization that actively works to improve the financial literacy of our citizens. We educate the public through speaking engagements and workshops, provide information and materials, and collaborate with public and private organizations and law makers on various projects throughout the state. Whether you’re looking for ways to develop money smarts at home, in your classroom, organization or business, the North Dakota Jump$tart Coalition has the tools and connections you need to make it happen.

It is free to become a member and they send weekly emails with information on organizations that promote financial literacy.

They had their annual conference in Bismarck on Tues, April 19. I attended the conference last year, but was unable to attend this year. The conference is a chance for school business teachers and financial professionals to get together to listen to speakers about financial literacy. They are making it more of a priority to teach finance classes in high school and college.

One of the books I have found that deals with teaching kids about money is “Money Doesn’t Grow on Trees, A Parent’s Guide to Raising Financially Responsible Children” by Neale S. Godfrey. She also wrote “Money Still Doesn’t Grow on Trees” dealing with teens.

The book contains games and activities for different age groups to teach kids about money. The chapters contain topics such as how to handle allowances, introducing your kids to banking, and budgeting. There is also a chapter on how to use the world as your financial classroom. If you take a couple of minutes to explain what you are doing can help your children learn. When you write a check or use your debit/credit card, explain that you need to make sure you have enough money in your account to use them or that you should be able to pay off your credit card each month.

One of the stories in the book is about a friend of hers that took his young sons across the country to visit their grandparents. Each time they stopped to eat, one of the sons was almost lagging behind. When they were almost home he asked him why. The son told him that he had to keep picking up the money he kept leaving on the tables. If not explained what he was doing, to a 5-6 year old it would look like his dad was forgetting his money.

This is one of the many resources available on this subject.

At Practical Money Skills educators, parents, and students can access free educational resources including personal finance articles, games, lesson plans, and more. Visa also works with state and national government to co-sponsor community-based events such as statewide Financial Football rollouts and the annual Financial Literacy in Education Summit.

Of the resources on the site to teach children about finances, two of them are Financial Football and Financial Soccer.

Visa and the National Football League have teamed up to help teach financial concepts with Financial Footbal, a fast-paced, interactive game that engages students while teaching them money management skills. Teams compete by answering financial questions to earn yardage and score touchdowns.

Financial Soccer is a fast-paced, multiple-choice question game, testing players’ knowledge of financial management skills as they advance down field, and try to score goals. Educators are encouraged to review and download the lesson modules, at right, before actual game play.

Yesterday I wrote a post on my other blog about a new program by Sesame Street and PNC Bank.

It provides videos, games and other resources for parents, caregivers and teachers to help teach kids about money.

There are several games and other resources available to try to make learning about money fun. Look for future posts about the various resources available.

Welcome to Save Spend Give.  I have always had a passion to learn how to manage my finances.  I have started a money coaching business to help others learn how to manage their money.  Although it is important to teach both children and adults about finances, I keep coming back to the fact that I feel it is important to begin teaching kids about money when they are young.  Although I have other blogs about finances, this blog is going to focus on resources and ideas about teaching kids about money and finances.