O
ur three-year-old
recently posed the
question, “Daddy, why
do you need to go to
work?” We explained that the purpose
of work is to make money to pay for all
the things we need, like the house, our
clothes, school and, most importantly,
toys and graham crackers. That’s
when we realised that the concept of
money and its uses is quite foreign to
our son, and we’ve set out to change
that. Experts agree that kids are never
too young to start learning about
money, so if, like us, you want to raise
savvy savers, here are some simple,
age-appropriate techniques to get you
started.
The toddler years
Children at this age should have a
basic understanding of numbers. Even
if they can’t yet add or subtract, once
they can recognise numbers and their
values, you can start to introduce them
to dollars and cents. “Play money”
and games involving the exchange of
money for items are a great place to
start. You can then draw their attention
to the same kinds of exchanges you do
on a daily basis, when you take them
shopping or out for lunch, for example.
Encourage early saving with a
piggy bank and a goal. At this age,
children need to be able to see their
savings and the money increasing
in size. Our son desperately wants a
particular type of toy fire engine, so
we have set up a jar with a picture of
the fire engine on it. We give him coins
when he’s being particularly well-
behaved or helpful around the house.
When the jar is full, we’ll take him to
buy the fire engine. Even if the amount
in the jar doesn’t correlate with the
actual cost of the toy, it still introduces
him to the concept of saving, and the
idea that sometimes you need to wait,
and work, for something that you want.
Primary school years
In the early years of kindergarten and
primary school, as basic mathematics
skills are introduced, children become
better able to understand that each
coin or note is worth a different
amount, and gradually they’ll be able
to add and subtract. Again, games
involving the exchange of money are
great, but you can increase the level of
difficulty by requiring exact amounts
– demonstrating the many different
ways to make a certain amount – and
then teaching them how to calculate
change.
This is the ideal time to introduce
children to the concept of “needs” and
“wants”. Make a list of all the things
in the household that “need” to be
paid for each month. Older children
can then start to help with things like
Involve them in the process and
play around with old bills, pretend
cheques and cash.
