Teaching Kids Money - USA Credit Unions

The Value of Coins and Dollars

Money can buy a lot of things like clothes, toys, and snacks so it must be remembered that money needs to be spent responsibly. Some simple activities can help you understand money better. Shopping for grocery or watching your parents pay bills will help you get more acquainted with money.

Receiving regular allowances is good if you can spend the allowances wisely. Money plays a major role in many activities. Some of them include watching cable television or surfing the Internet, going on long drives with your parents or enjoying a meal at a restaurant. All these activities require money. Money is not only spent in a household, it is also earned. Parents work in order to earn money. When they earn the money, the money is sent as a check or it is deposited to their bank account. Although it’s quite difficult to earn money at a very young age, you can learn to save money by having a personal piggy bank. After a while, you can buy your favorite toy or even a pet!

Counting Money for Intermediates: Helps younger kids learn about the value of coins.
About Money: Shows how to teach children about money.
Cents of Color: Learn about coins by coloring them!
Coin Value: Determine the value of a collection of coins and dollar bills
Money Concepts: Identify the value of coins and show different combinations of coins.
What Kids Should Know: Outlines the important things about money for kids from age 3 to 11.
Kids and Cash: Provides a chart that shows how children know about money.
Federal Reserve Kids: Special page for kids at the Federal Reserve.
Thrive by Five: Provides tips for teaching preschoolers about money.
Kids’ Money for Kids Saving: Articles and activities to teach children about saving.
Interactive Note: A great way to learn about bank notes.
Mad Money: Play this game to learn how to save money.
Kids & Money Games: Another fun game for kids to learn about money.

Adding and Subtracting Money

In order to keep a record of your spending and ensure that nobody can give you the wrong change when you are buying a toy or snack, you need some basic adding and subtracting skills. Firstly, you need to know that one hundred cents make one dollar. If you spend fifty cents on a candy and gives the shopkeeper one dollar, the shopkeeper should return fifty cents. If five dollars and six dollars add up to eleven dollars, taking away three dollars from eleven dollars would leave you with eight dollars. You should also learn to count the amount of money you spend and receive by subtracting and adding with your fingers. Additionally, using tally marks with paper and pencil would help in keeping count on large sums of money.

Beginning Algebra: A tutorial on adding real numbers.
Math: Provides links to math estimation, rounding, and money.
Subtracting with Money: Shows how to subtract with money.
Discovering Coin Values: Effective exercise to teach children about coin values.
Cash Out: A game to teach children how to change money.
Money Math: Excellent tool for teachers of 7^th to 9^th grade students.
Change Maker: Master the art of keeping change by playing this fun game.
How Much?: A game that tests children’s ability in counting coins.
Lemonade Stand: Have you ever wanted to sell lemonade? Play the game to find out how much you can make!
Count US Coins: Learn all about counting US coins in this game.
Money Habits: Provides some ideas on how to instill effective money habits in children.
Counting Money: Online activity to teach children about counting money.
Show Them the Money: Teaching your children about the importance of good money habits.

Money Lesson Plans for All Ages

Money lesson plans are important since the lesson plans help children develop practical skills with money. Lesson plans on money will help you understand a clear concept of money. You can also learn more about spending plans with money lesson plans. In later life you will have to learn about money concepts like interest rates, credit, loans, and more. It’s never too young to start learning about money because the lesson plans will accompany you for the rest of your life. These lesson plans will not only teach you to count the value of coins and notes but they will also help you to get a deeper understanding of money.

K-5 Lesson Plan: Use Mr. Potato Head to teach children about estimation.
Youth & Money: Preschool & elementary financial literacy.
Teaching Kids about Money Activities: Some lesson plans to help children identify and count coins.
Lesson Plans: Awesome lesson plans from the U.S. Mint.
Financial Websites: A list of financial and saving links for youths.
Creating a Budget: Lesson plan on how to create a budget for Congress.
Financial Education: Original money lesson plans for students from Grade 4 to Grade 12.
Thrive by Five: Teaching preschoolers about spending and saving.
Practical Money Skills: A resource center to find lesson plans, games, and other financial-related stuff.
History of Money: Teach about the history of money with this lesson plan.
Mining Money: A lesson plan that teaches about “scrip”.
Interactive Money: A list of interactive websites for children to learn about money.
The Million $ Mission: Use this great lesson to teach students about exponential growth.
Money Management for Teens: Learn about spending money, borrowing money, banking basics, saving money, and more.