Teaching Kids about Money - Free Resources

Alicia Nelson-Bell, Finance Intern

When you have kids there are all kinds of different things to start teaching so they can start developing good habits early. With this in mind, do you ever feel like you need to be the perfect teacher for your children? Do you ever feel like you are lacking in the knowledge and ability to teach your children about so many different topics? Do you ever feel like you don’t know where to start?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, you are not alone, and this post is here to help you feel more confident teaching your children about money. It doesn’t have to be complicated and you don’t have to be the perfect teacher.
There are so many wonderful resources out there to help parents teach their kids financial literacy and we are highlighting one of the best right here... 

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What resources does consumerfinance.gov have for you? The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB found at consumerfinance.gov) has many different financial resources, but for now, let’s focus on a couple aimed at helping parents teach their kids financial literacy.
           
Money Monsters book series: This 5-book series introduces kids to ideas, habits, and activities needed as they grow up and start to manage their own money. These short books are designed to help elementary aged children develop the knowledge and skills to make money choices that are educated and are right for them. The Money Monsters books are free short stories that can be downloaded to a device as a pdf that can be printed out or viewed digitally or you can download an animated, digital form of the books to a book reader app on a digital device. Money Monsters books include:

• Money Monsters Learn to Save-Setting goals and saving to buy things you want, working to earn money for things kids want.
• Money Monsters Learn about Careers- Exploring talents and careers while kids are young
• Money Monsters Learn to Protect Their Things- Protecting yourself, your money and your other possessions
• Money Monsters Learn What Things Really Cost-Evaluating Upfront costs and Maintenance costs, Wants vs Needs
• Money Monsters Learn to Become Good Borrowers-Being responsible when borrowing other people’s things.

To access the books, click here.

Storytime Activities to do with your Children: consumerfinance.gov also has over 200 story time activities to do with children of different ages. They are helpful in reinforcing concepts taught in stories and include other fun ways of learning. Some of these activities involve the Money Monster stories and others. Whether you use the exact books listed in this area or different ones you already have, this is a great resource that includes questions to help get the conversation going and enforce the financial concepts. Check out this link to explore these activities. 
 
Money Milestones at Different Ages: A couple of things to keep in mind while exploring this resource, as well as any others regarding teaching kids about money, is that when you talk about money with kids is less important than how you talk about it. Remember to talk to them about money on their level and that they are very aware of the attitudes and moods expressed. This section not only gives some great tips for getting the conversation going about money with your kids such as playing off of your strengths to teach, but it also shows how different common family events can be great teaching opportunities for parents of children of any age. These events include:

• Getting a pet
• Buying a car
• Paying with a credit card
• Moving to a new home
• Paying bills

CFPB has even broken-down sections specific to different age groups including different concepts that each age group can be taught with the different events. Click here to view.

All of the resources on the CFBP website are based around the following 3 building blocks that help build financial capability. 3 Building Blocks to Financial Capability. Each building block has a short video about the building block, a section about the importance of helping children develop that building block and a short section for Early Childhood (age 3-5), Middle Childhood (age 6-12), and Adolescence/Early Adulthood (age 13-21). The sections for different age groups gives milestones specific to the age group that parents can look for development to see that the children are mastering it and ways that those milestones may be exhibited in their adult lives. Each building block also has a section all about teaching the building block and different instructional strategies to try.

1. Financial Habits and Norms. The values, standards, routine practices, and rules to live by when going about day-to-day financial life.
2. Financial Knowledge and Decision-making Skills. This is the knowledge and skills needed to understand the financial world and make informed decisions regarding finances.
3. Executive Function: The thinking skills and abilities needed to plan ahead, focus attention, remember information and practice self-control

Again, teaching your kids about and helping them have positive learning experiences with money doesn’t have to be complicated and overwhelming. Hopefully, as you explore some of these great resources, you will be able to find some tools and tips to help you in teaching your kids, or any kids you work with, about finances.