10 Engaging Ways to Teach Money Skills in Elementary

10 Ways to Teach Money to Your Homeschoolers

Navigating the world of finance can be a bit daunting, but it’s so crucial for our kids. It’s one of those areas where the school system really fails our kids. But as homeschool families, we have the opportunity to teach our kids about money in an engaging and practical way. I’m excited to share with you 10 fun and educational ways to teach money skills to your elementary-aged homeschoolers. We’re starting with the basics and gradually increasing the complexity. Let’s turn these financial lessons into exciting learning opportunities!

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1. Coin Recognition & Sorting

Start them off young and kick off your money lessons with a hands-on activity. Gather a bunch of coins and have your kids sort them into groups – pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters. This simple exercise helps them recognize and differentiate between various coins. Make it fun by timing them or turning it into a coin-hunting game around the house.

TIP: Use real coins as much as possible. Sometimes play money does not to a great job of differentiating the size of coins, especially nickels and quarters. When you’re first introducing money, it’s important for your child to see and feel the size difference of coins.

2. Price tag fun

Create a mini “store” at home. Tag household items with price tags and give your kids play money. They can ‘buy’ items by identifying and counting the correct amount of money. This activity not only reinforces coin recognition but also introduces basic addition.

These dramatic play bundles are so fun for this. Add in a play cash register and there is so much free play and learning that will happen. As a bonus, it will keep your kids entertained for hours!

3. Budgeting with allowance

Introduce the concept of budgeting by giving your kids a small weekly allowance. They can earn this through simple chores. Teach them to budget for things they want to buy, encouraging savings and smart spending.

As homeschool families, it’s really easy for us to get in the habit of sharing household duties with our kids because we are home all day and all share the same space. Chores are a natural part of our everyday. But we are missing an important financial lesson for our kids if we don’t implement some kind of allowance with those chores. There are so many different ways to offer allowances for your kids.

Two of my favorite ways are with a weekly chore chart for each child and daily household chores. With a chore chart, I include specific tasks that I expected my kids to do everyday. At the end of the week, if they completed those chores everyday the receive their weekly allowance.

For those daily chores, I make a list of household chores that need to be done that day (garbage cans at the end of the driveway, laundry, vacuuming, etc.) and assign a dollar amount to each one. These are tasks I have to do that day, but are up for grabs for the kids if they wish to make some extra money. It takes something off of my to-do list and teaches them that we can be compensated for going above and beyond what is expected.

4. Playing store with real transactions

Upgrade your pretend play to include the real thing. Use real money for transactions. Your kids will handle real cash, make purchases, and give change. This practical experience is invaluable.

You could add another component to this and teach your kids how to spend money wisely. At the start of the day, give your kids a set amount of money. Assign a money value to things like snacks, drinks, tv/electronics, etc. and have them make smart choices about how to spend their money.

5. diy banking game

Create a simple banking game. Make deposit and withdrawal slips. Your kids can ‘deposit’ their allowance and ‘withdraw’ for purchases. This introduces them to basic banking concepts.

If DIY is not your thing, here are a few games that teach the same concept.

6. price comparison shopping

Introduce the concept of value for money. During your grocery trips, have your kids compare prices of different brands and calculate the best buy. This teaches them about making smart purchasing decisions. If doing this at the store seems overwhelming to you, use the weekly flyers from your local grocery story or and app if they have one.

Extend this by looking at coupons. What is the difference between name brand + a coupon vs store brand. You can go even further with it by looking at the savings between BOGO items.

7. simple investing concepts

Use a board game like Monopoly to introduce basic investing concepts. Discuss how buying properties and collecting rent works as an investment.

There are also so many good investing for kids books out there. It would be a great idea to read one together. It’s never too early for your kids to start investing their money.

8. understanding bills & expenses

Involve your kids in the monthly budgeting process. Show them bills and expenses. Especially the bills that involve entertainment for them, like streaming services, spots/activities, etc. This helps them understand the cost of living and the importance of managing money.

Please be cautious here. This should be a teaching moment, not to add guilt or pressure on them. If you’re family is struggling financially or there is negative conversations about money in your home, do NOT have those discussions with your kids.

9. entrepreneurial project

Encourage your child to start a simple business. Think about their hobbies and how they could turn those into a profit. Now days, there are so many ways for kids to make money. This teaches them about earning, spending, saving, and even the basics of profit and loss.

10. Charity & giving

Finally, teach them about the importance of giving. Encourage them to set aside a portion of their allowance or earnings for charity. Together, choose a percentage of every allowance or “pay check” for giving. For our family, that’s 10% (Leviticus 27:30). This instills the value of sharing and compassion.

Teaching money skills doesn’t have to be boring or complicated. With these 10 activities, your kids will be well on their way to becoming money-savvy in no time. Remember, the key is to make it fun and relatable to their everyday lives. Happy teaching!

I hope this blog post gives you some great ideas to get started on your financial literacy journey with your kids. If you’ve tried any of these activities or have more to add, I’d love to hear about it in the comments! Let’s help each other grow our little money experts. Happy homeschooling!

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