10 of the Best Educational Toys, Games, & Books to Teach Your Kids About Money
Start them young!
It’s never too early to starting teaching kids about money – including how to save, budget, and spend money wisely. More importantly, you don’t want to risk someone else teaching your kids how to manage their money poorly.
So if you’re needing a place to start, looking for a fantastic gift idea, or just want to make learning about money more fun for your children, check out these educational and highly rated products we love!
According to Dave Ramsey, kids of different ages learn and grasp the concept of money differently. “A study by the University of Cambridge found that money habits in children are formed by the time they’re 7 years old.”
For instance, preschoolers can visualize the growth of money through a clear savings jar, elementary students are capable of learning not to buy on impulse, and teens can benefit from learning the ropes of their own savings account and getting ready for their college financial plans.
But just know, it’s never too late to talk about money. Someday your kids will thank you.
1. Laugh & Learn Smart Stages Piggy Bank
Great for ages 6 months to 3 years.
This interactive, singing piggy bank encourages thinking skills, practices counting and is a great way to teach your baby about saving money. There are also two different levels with a variety of developmentally appropriate songs, phrases, and sounds – so whether they’re 6 months old or 3 years, they’ll be learning age-appropriate skills. It even has Spanish and helps children learn their basic colors!
2. Pretend & Play Calculator Cash Register
Great for ages 36 months up to 8 years.
What child doesn’t love role-playing with money? This cash register also encourages social skills, mathematics, and best of all it features a solar-powered calculator so you never have to worry about replacing batteries. It also comes with a pretend credit card, 30 pretend bills and 40 plastic coins – so you can guarantee endless hours of fun & learning!
3. Financial Peace Junior Kit
Great for ages 3 to 12 years.
Packed with tools, resources, and step-by-step instructions for parents, Financial Peace Junior by Dave Ramsey will equip your kids to handle their money more wisely. Through fun stories and activities, your kids will learn the values of working, giving, saving and spending. Plus, it will help mom and dad come up with age-appropriate chores and develop good money habits that will be apart of all your daily lives.
4. Pretend & Play Checkbook with Calculator
Great for ages 36 months up to 12 years.
It’s always fun to pretend you’re a grown-up! With this set kids can fill out pretend checks that are realistic in size and learn how to make payments and calculate their balances. It includes 25 checks, a check register, pen, calculator, deposit slips and instruction card.
5. Moonjar Classic Moneybox (Save, Spend, Share)
Great for ages 4 and up.
This award-winning Moonjar moneybox is divided into Save, Spend and Share tins that allow kids to set practical goals with their money for each section. Each Moonjar Kit also comes with a family guide with simple budgeting ideas and a passbook so kids can track their progress.
6. Children’s Books
Great for ages 4 to 8 years.
These are just a few popular and highly rated children’s books that will teach kids about various forms of money, saving for things you need and want, and all the things that you can do with your hard-earned cash.
7. The Allowance Game
Great for ages 5 and up.
In this skill-building game, players race around the game board doing chores to earn their allowance and then save it or spend it on things they want. For instance, if a player washes the car, they will earn $1.30, but if they forget their homework they will lose a turn! A fun way for kids to learn about money and consequences!
8. Cash ‘N’ Carry Wallet
Great for ages 5 and up.
What a fun way that kids can learn the value of money! This play wallet includes 30 bills, a pretend credit card, a bank card, and a zippered coin compartment with 40 coins included. It also comes with suggested activities that will teach them how to be responsible for their cash and on the flip side, if they lose it – it will be a not-so-tragic learning experience. 😉
9. Money Bags Game
Great for ages 7 to 9 years.
Similar to The Allowance Game, this highly-rated game also allows kids to earn money by landing on a square with a practical chore or entrepreneurial endeavors, such as setting the table, hosting a lemonade stand and more. This game also gives kids practice counting bills and exchanging money. Plus, there’s an additional incentive for kids to use critical thinking and coin combining skills.
10. American Girl – A Smart Girl’s Guide: Money
Great for ages 9 to 12 years.
Know an American Girl fan? In this book, girls will learn how to not only spend their cash but also how to earn it. The quizzes, tips, and helpful quotes from other girls will make learning about money management easy and fun. Chapter topics include Making Money, Shopping, Saving Money and more.
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I highly recommend Financial Peace Jr. We have our kids on the commission system (if you work, you get paid, no work, no pay). Just like the real world. My 6 year old is always eager to do chores and loves having the ability to buy things.
I couldn’t agree more. Financial Peace Jr. Has motivated my 5, 8, and 10 year to ask to help around the house and even for chores where they aren’t paid! We have been doing it for months now and they are still excited and my 8 year loves to fill her giving envelope and bless those in need💖.
How cool! Thanks for the recommendation, Jess! Good to know that one has been a success for your family!
Payday was a favorite of mine as a kid.
Awesome post, thank you!
You’re welcome, Ang! Thank YOU for the feedback! Glad you enjoyed this list!
Another great book for ages 2.5 – 6 is “Let’s Meet Ms. Money” !
The main character is a teacher named Ms. Money who teaches about how to make money, different jobs, the differences between needs and wants, etc. Also a few pages dedicated to learn the various dollar bills and coins.
Great introduction to money for young children. I have no connection whatsoever to this book/author, but my 3 year old asks to read Ms. Money all the time!
https://www.amazon.com/Lets-Meet-Ms-Money-Financial/dp/1642548499/
Oh cool! Thanks so much for the helpful suggestion!
Gohenry is a “an easy and fun way to pay allowance and teach your kids good money habits”. My 12 year old has her own debit card that can be used at any store. She is able to track her own spending, plan for savings, and see where her money goes. Plus using her own debit card allows her to feel responsible for her spending. I can add money at anytime, including when she is out with friends and needs money. We love it and use it to pay her allowance. This is a link that you can use to sign up and it would benefit my child as well: https://check.out.gohenry.com/1Fc3k or just go to https://www.gohenry.com/us/.
We also love Junior Achievement’s Biztown program, but you need a group to participate. Schools often do this program as do homeschool groups. It teaches banking, checking writing, payroll, taxes, local economy, debit card use, and checkbook registers.
This book is full of helpful tips to help teach your middle schoolers/teenagers how to manage money. Topics include, budgeting, needs v.wants, calculating discounts, buying & selling online, purchasing a phone & plan, giving to charity, saving money, bank accounts, and more! https://j6912.myubam.com/p/7842/managing-your-money
Thank you. Just what I was looking for.
Lol…I was not given allowances and commissions etc. I was told, “When you move out & have your own house then you can decide when the dishes get done!” 😂
However, I also got to witness a lot of money saving moves; only shop the sale racks or contribute to the very local economy by shopping a neighbor’s yard sale.
Now, I do allow for a slight allowance with my little one & the use of an “atm machine”, but am careful to remind them that we should help our family regardless of pay.
My daughter is learning the old fashioned way. She is 15 and earning her own money and knows how fast it goes. She is very careful about what she buys because I have always taught her the importance of money. I would go into JC Penney and tell her exactly how much she can spend. She looks for coupons and looks for coupons on the app to make her money go further. My parents gave us a dollar for each age for our allowance. If we were 15 we got $15 dollars every two weeks. If we were 10 we got $10 every two weeks etc. I have done the same for mine. Both my 8 year old and 15 year old are always finding weekend jobs whether it is painting a neighbors shop or cleaning a neighbors house they make money and decide to save some and spend some. They are learning like I did.
I grew up on the Allowance game & I’m almost 40!! I still have my original game and my kids also love to play it!! Great way to teach money handling & counting! 5 Stars!!
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