Getting kids interested in finance is kind of like forcing them to eat their vegetables. It’s important, it’s productive, it’s healthy, but it’s boring.  After your short, well-thought-out lecture about interest rates, they’ll run to their iPad and go back to playing games. So it’s time to bring finance to games.

Preschool finances

I know that when I was a kid, I sure didn’t want to go near my father’s intimidating tax calculator and spreadsheets, even if it was supposed to be a “lesson.” These days, though, there are better ways to get kids interested in learning about financial literacy, even from preschool age. Computer programs such as ABCmouse.com have age-appropriate stages, so that the math isn’t too difficult or confusing too soon. This can help kids up to kindergarten age, especially when they start to realize that they can’t ask for everything in the toy store.

To “level up” the excitement, you can do more than just introduce a piggy bank. There’s now a smart piggy bank called Porkfolio (punny as charged). This piggy bank connects to an app that totals your kids’ coin deposits wirelessly. It also has an anti-theft feature that sends an alert to a phone if a sneaky sibling tries to steal the bacon. Kids can check their balances on a smartphone, and every time they deposit a coin, the piggy bank lights up in celebration. Older kids and even adults might get a kick out of this, too!

Elementary economics 

As kids reach school age and beyond, there are more apps and games focusing on finance. Here are a few:

• Rich Kid Smart Kid: Setting up a classic lemonade stand isn’t the only way to get kids excited about business and money management. One game, Jesse’s Ice Cream Stand, defines a profit and goes over how to increase it. Other games follow suit to teach debt and payment habits in business and personal contexts. The games are free to play, and you can select your level from kindergarten all the way to high school.

• Savings Spree: Designed for kids age 7 and older, this fun app shows kids how the small everyday money choices, like buying one soda each day, can add up to big savings or losses over the long term.  You can download the app at the iTunes store.

• The Great Piggy Bank Adventure: Disney finance? Yes, that’s a thing now. This Disney game teaches kids about investment strategies, inflation, goal setting and financial decisions. With appealing characters and beautiful graphics and animation, the game takes kids into the fictional town of Fiscalville — appropriately named — and ends once the player’s personal financial goal is fulfilled. It is free to play online, or it can be download to Android or iOS devices.

• Unleash the Loot: Surprisingly, rescuing endangered animals can teach kids a lot about money, and math, too, as they learn to buy food and other supplies for the animals before releasing them back into the wild. Unleash the Loot sends real-time emails to parents about how the game is progressing, and they can even respond in real time within the game!

• The Mint: If you’re like me, something like “compound interest” was a dry math term, and it took years to become relevant and interesting. The Mint, a finance website, adds color and makes money fun. If you need a good starting point, “spending quizzes” for kids and teens are definitely worth a look.

Bringing finance to life

Yes, these finance programs are just games, but getting kids excited about finance isn’t a walk in the park. When you’re shopping, you may see your kids start to pick up how to save with coupons and sales. And when they reach high school, you can ask them if they want to try an online bank account or free budgeting apps such as Money Tracker. Yes, maybe some of this is wishful thinking, but you never know. Today’s lessons in finance are certainly much more entertaining than they were in my day.

Comments

comments