Guest blog by Louise Tillotson

If you haven’t already started, the time will soon come when you’ll want to teach your child the value of money. It’s an unavoidable part of life, and instilling good sound values in your child now will ensure they have a secure financial future.

Teaching your child how to save money

Child Money Savngs Tips

For most children, their first experience of money and saving is a piggy bank. Take your child with you and let them choose one for themselves, then make a game of putting coins in and taking them out. As the child grows older, encourage them to put any money given to them by relatives in their piggy, regularly take it out and count it with them, and keep a written record of the total each month or so. They’ll be able to see their money mounting up and this will help them to understand the concept of saving.

You may also want to open up an account for your child which they can use as they get older. Children’s savings accounts are offered by most banks, and offer similar benefits and options to adult savings accounts; competitive interest rates, withdrawal notice periods, and fixed terms of 1, 2 or 3 years. Explain to your child how their savings account works, and encourage them to deposit the money from their piggy bank into their account periodically. Older children might be interested in using an online tool called a savings calculator, which will help them to see how their money will increase over a set period with a given interest rate.

Teaching them the value of money

An allowance, or pocket money as it’s known in the UK, is perhaps the best tool available to parents who want to teach their offspring about the value of money. There are many factors to consider when deciding how much allowance you will give to your child. A general rule of thumb is to allow $1  for each year, so a 5 year old would receive $5, while a 10 year old would receive double that. But this is just a guide, and other things can be taken into account:

Their friends – ask the parents of your child’s friends how much they give their offspring, and try to keep to the same range. Children can feel left out if they know their friends get more money than they do.

What it’s used for – If your child will only buy sweets and magazines out of their allowance, then they shouldn’t need much (especially if you want to discourage them from eating too many sweets). But if you’d like them to occasionally buy their own clothes, books or CDs, then a slightly increased amount could be given to reflect this.

Saving – You could stipulate that your child put part of their allowance in their savings account or piggy bank. If this is the case, then consider giving them extra based on how much you expect them to save. You could even offer to pay ‘interest’ if you can afford it – put an extra $1 in their account for every $5 they do, for example.

Your income – How much can you afford to give to your child, consistently, each week? Examine your income and expenditure and see how much you can realistically and comfortably spare, without sacrificing household bills or other essentials.

Games you can play with your child about money

Children learn through play, so it’s a good idea to play some money-related games with your son or daughter.

The obvious one, and a firm favorite with most children, is Shops. Save some empty food packets from around the home, set up a table and let your child arrange the packets as they wish. Collect some spare change together and you can begin teaching them how to buy, sell and make change. Not only will this help them to learn what the denomination of each coin or bill is, but it can also teach them simple math.

Snap! is a familiar card game, and can be altered to teach your child more about denominations. You and your child/ren should have a handful of coins each, a mixture of high and low values. Choose a coin or coins at random, place them in the center of the playing area, and your child then has to choose different coins from their own pile which match the total value of the ones you’ve selected. If several children are playing, the winner is the first child to put out the correct total and yell “Snap!”.

Along a similar idea, Higher or Lower can be played with coins too. Select a coin, say ‘higher’ or ‘lower’, and your child has to put out a coin from their heap which is higher or lower in value than the one you selected. If they guess correctly, they can then say ‘higher’ or ‘lower’ and you then put a coin out, and so on. All of these games can be played with bills (make toy money if you’re worried about rips!) as well as coins for a greater scope of learning.

Bingo is a fun game which can be enjoyed time and time again by the whole family. First of all, get your child/ren involved in helping you create bingo cards – draw up a 6 by 6 grid on thin paper and show them how to do a different coin rubbing in each square (mix the pattern up so all the grids are different). Then, laminate each grid or cover in clear sticky plastic, and give one to each player along with small stickers or washable stamping pens. Fill a small tub with coins and choose one player to be the bingo caller. They choose a coin at random, call out the value and each player has to mark one occurrence of that coin off on their grid if it appears. The first one to get a line from side to side, or a full grid, shouts ‘Bingo!’ and wins the game.

Set a good example

Children copy their parents and older siblings, so try to exhibit responsible financial behavior around your impressionable young ones. Get into the habit of talking to them each time you’re in a shop and trying to decide on a purchase. Say things like, “If we buy this [item on a whim], then we wouldn’t be able to get this [something you need]“. Let them see grocery receipts and point out any money you may have saved on your shopping trips. You can even enlist their help in a coupon-cutting session if it’s something you do regularly.

Author Byline

Louise Tillotson is a mother based in the UK, and a regular contributor to parenting sites in the UK and the US. She also writes for personal finance sites and the price comparison site Moneysupermarket.com.