6 Fun Games to Teach Your Kids About Money

On April 20^th, it’s BMO’s Talk with Our Kids About Money Day. To celebrate, BMO Financial Group – in partnership with the Canadian Foundation for Economic Education – has compiled a wealth of resources designed for parents and teachers to start the conversation about financial literacy.

From online games kids can engage in, videos with follow up activities, and exercises that can be downloaded to walk parents through these lessons, parents will find it easy to start the conversation.

Here are some of our favourite ways to get talking:

If I Had $100 | In this exercise, you’re going to work with the kids with an imaginary budget of $100. The goal is to see what they choose to spend it on, and to determine if any money is going to be saved. This game opens the dialogue of the importance of saving and sharing, in addition to spending. To follow up, you could talk about savings goals and ways that they could share.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory | In the economic climate of Alberta right now, it’s likely you know at least one person that has lost their job. Watching this movie with fresh eyes, focusing on the economic factors of the film, like job loss and techniques of how to cope with that, and how families can prepare.

The Jobs Jar | This fun craft activity is an easy way to teach children how to earn money and to save before making a purchase. It’s a great introduction to credit, and the importance of saving for large purchases rather than buying now/paying later.

Pig Tales | This online storybook is a new take on the Three Little Pigs. Instead of houses, the pigs learn the importance of saving money, sharing money and spending money only on what they need. You can print a free copy of the book, and use the follow up questions to help those lessons hit home.

A Sorting Game | This online sorting game helps to differentiate between something that many adults have difficulty with – needs and wants. Learning to identify this from an early age can help to sustain financial responsibility in the future, an important lesson. This one’s easy – you just have to print the file, and let the kids cut and sort accordingly. We love the great element for discussion with this activity!

Lemonade Stand | I remember playing a version of this game when I was younger – so seeing this one was a fun inclusion. In this game, the kids set the price of the lemonade, and have to change up the factors of the game to find the best results. Follow up activities like letting the kids make change at the store or playing a board game that requires ‘change making’ can help kids to understand the finer points of counting money.

Whether you’ve started the dialogue with toddlers, or you’re trying to prepare older teens for their transition years, BMO has you covered. You can find these games, exercises and more as part of the Talk With Our Kids About Money program, at www.talkwithourkidsaboutmoney.com. Plus for year-round learning, BMO has launched YourFinancialLife.com to help parents with even more advice and resources to help prepare kids for their financial futures.

Don’t forget to join the conversation using the hashtag #TWOKAM and make sure to follow BMO on Twitter (@BMO) and on Facebook (/BMOCommunity).