April 24, 2017
Written by Gina Sanchez, Financial Stability Manager at La Casa de Esperanza
Between running errands, grocery shopping, laundry, and homework, it’s hard to imagine finding time to talk about or do activities around money as a family. Even if you can find the time, you may not know how to start a conversation with your young children about smart finances. According to a 2016 study by T. Rowe Price, 71% of parents are hesitant to talk to about money with their kids. However, talking as a family about money, even with very young kids, is incredibly important.
Here at La Casa de Esperanza’s Charter School, I teach money and finance lessons to our 1st graders each week. There are plenty opportunities to make learning about money fun, positive and rewarding. Here are some of my favorite tips:
- Create a Family Vision Board (example above): Using old magazines, drawings, or online images, create a poster of family financial goals like taking a vacation or buying a house. All you need is a poster board, magazines or photos, crayons, and colored pencils or paint. The fun visual of your financial goals will encourage everyone in the family to be aware of ways they can save. Be sure to put your family vision board in a place where everyone will see it!
- Go Shopping Together: Shopping is an opportunity to teach your child about making financial decisions. Before you head out, create a list and a budget together. Work together on deciding needs vs. wants and use coupons when there is a chance. Ask your child questions such as “you can get two boxes of this fruit snack vs. one box of this one (per the cost)…which one is a better choice?”
- Have Fun with Saving: Saving for a goal can be fun and rewarding. Decorate a large pickle jar with pictures of your goal, like a new bike or that family vacation to the Dells. Glue or duct tape the lid and cut a slit through the top so the money can be deposited. Challenge your family to use only cash when paying for items and put all the change in the jar. Another fun savings idea is doing a $5 Challenge: every time someone in the family has a $5 bill they have to put it in a jar or box. When the jar is full take it to the bank together to put it into a savings account. Repeat until you reach your goal!
- Pay Attention to Ads: Nowadays we are overloaded with messages to buy. Whether it’s TV, radio, social media, or just out walking around, the messages to purchase be confusing for adults…so imagine how confusing it must be for our kids! Talk with your child and ask them questions about what they think when they hear one of these messages. It’s important to teach them to question not only the truth of the message, but to also consider if the purchase is something they really need.
- Encourage Ownership: Even if it makes us feel good to give our child something they truly desire, there is nothing wrong with making them work for it. Besides the normal chores that are expected there is value in making our children work a little extra when they want to buy something special. When children take ownership in helping pay for something, they will care for it better and they will understand the value of hard work.
Having fun with age appropriate activities and conversations about money will prepare your child with the tools they will need handle their finances for a lifetime.