With everything they teach children in schools these days, it’s a wonder why money isn’t one of them. Talking about finances isn’t the most interesting thing in the world, especially to a child. However, it’s so important they learn the value of money as early as possible. There are many ways to make talking about money interesting, you just need to make it exciting for them.
Below we’ve created a few tips on how you might be able to get your child interested in money. If you make your child smarter with their money at a younger age, it will do wonders for them later in life. No matter your salary, or whether you’re rich, or poor. The value of money should be taught from a young age.
Starting With The Basics
Of course, the best place to start when it comes to teaching your child about money is with the basics. Let them play with money, whether it’s a £5 note, or some cash. Get them used to handling money and try to explain to them what each one is, and what it’s worth. You could even explain to them what money is used for and that you have to earn money by working before you can spend it on the things you want.
Speak Openly About Finances
OK, so perhaps not the big financial decisions you make, but you could try to get your child’s input on some of the smaller decisions.
For older children, you could ask them to help when it comes to budgeting for a food shop perhaps. Ask them to keep track of the items you’re putting in to your trolley. Along with how much each item is. Then when you get to the till, if their total matches the final total, reward them for getting it right.
Use Toys & Games To Get Them Interested
This one is mainly for the younger children. Toys such as tills, and shopping are a great way of making money fun for them. You pretend to be a customer who wants to buy some of their (plastic) food and ask how much it comes to.
You could even give them an assortment of coins and ask them to put them all into same value piles. Get them used to looking at the numbers on each coin and what the different coins look like. You could even get them doing things such as seeing how high they can stack a pile of coins. Or perhaps see which of the coins is the best at spinning. Make using coins something fun for them to do to peak their interest.
Set A Good Example Yourself
There is no better way to teach than by example. If your children can see that you’re good and sensible with money, this is likely to rub off on them as well. If you don’t respect your finances, how would you ever expect your children to do the same?
Small things you could do to help teach good money practices would be to show them how to save it wisely. Perhaps you could get them a money box to start saving their money in.
If they see you spending lots of money on fancy clothes, or things you don’t really need, this is how they will begin to see it as well. Explain to them why saving money is a good thing and what they would gain from doing so.
Give Them Pocket Money For Chores Completed
A great way to start showing children how to be good with money is to make them understand the meaning of it. Giving them pocket money for chores completed is a great way of doing this. It will show them that if you work hard and do your jobs, you get more money. Showing them that those who work hard get rewarded for doing so in a monetary way.
It will also show that it has to earned and it doesn’t always come easily. Giving cash to children as and when they want it will only convey it isn’t important and can be accessed easily whenever it’s asked for. Not exactly how you want them growing up thinking.
Take Them On Shopping Trips
One way to show children the value of money is by taking them on shopping trips and allowing them to purchase things with money they have saved themselves. Showing them the value of money, as well as how to spend their hard earned pennies.
The more they get to spend and save money themselves, the more they are likely to make sensible decisions when it comes to spending.
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