Do you ever feel like your child doesn’t understand the value of money? As an adult, your child must know how to handle money during their everyday life. It is important to start explaining the value of these skills while they are still at home. DIY money games are a great way to keep your child’s attention and prepare them for the future.   

Money Map

To introduce your child to money, start with DIY money games that focus on recognizing the different coins. With the money map game, your child will sort out the different coins into separate piles on your map. First, you will need a sheet of paper and a marker. With the marker, create four separate boxes on the sheet of paper and label each box with the different coins you will use. Set the sheet and several coins in front of your child to sort. As your child gets better at sorting the coins, add the challenge of timing their efforts. Each time they sort the coins, their goal will be to get faster. This way the coin recognition becomes second nature to them.   

Make A Dollar

Once your child understands how to separate the different coins, you can start working on recognizing the denomination. Make A Dollar is a DIY money game that will teach your child how to make a dollar with the different coin denominations. To set this game up, you will need at least $5.00 worth of coins with differing denominations, five flashcards, and a marker. At the top of each flashcard, write $1.00 and how many coins they should use to make up the dollar. For example, you need to make $1.00 with four coins. The child would use four quarters to make up the dollar. Each flashcard should force the child to use the different coins to make up a dollar.         

Grocery Shopping

Now that they understand what each coin means and how to add them up to make a dollar, let us push them a little farther with a Grocery Shopping game in your kitchen. Create a grocery list with prices next to the different items you have within your kitchen. Your child will have a budget that they must stick to, so they will have to keep track of the total cost. Once they are finished shopping, they must figure out how much to pay the cashier, you! They will take the money they have and count out the total. If they go over budget, the child must figure out how to reduce their bill. With this DIY money game, they have added budgeting to their financial skills.    

Each of these DIY money games focuses on the basics of understanding money. As they grow beyond the basics, Velocity Community Credit Union has multiple financial literacy opportunities to help them continue to develop. Plus, our Youth Accounts provide the perfect opportunity for the child in your life to manage their finances while they are still at home with you!  

Source: Self-Sufficient Kids