Kids Money Games
Kids today, even pre-teens as young as kindergarten age, are not too young to begin learning how to manage money.
Everything in life has a cost and the sooner children learn to appreciate that fact, the easier their transition into adulthood will be.
There are many money games for kids and activities that will teach them the value of money and how to handle rudimentary finances.
Monopoly
As kids money games go, the old original Monopoly board game is still the standard by which other money management games are judged.
Monopoly teaches children valuable lessons in the basic concepts of property and money management.
Even though Monopoly is fun for everyone, it does demonstrate the principles of counting money, banking, property purchase, home purchase, rental payments and even the obscure concepts of fines and penalties.
Monopoly Junior was designed with younger children in mind, using smaller single digit money amounts, and revolving around an amusement park environment. It involves purchase and ownership of amusements, as well as paying for services such as meals and restroom visits.
I highly recommend this game to help teach your children about finances. It is one of the best available.
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The Game of Life
The Game of Life is a board game that simulates a person’s journey through life beginning with college, obtaining jobs and money, marriage and children and retirement. The game shows the effects, good and bad, of some of life’s events.
Players discover the financial impact of having children, losing jobs, and choosing careers. Homes need to be repaired, cars break down and a slew of other things that help to make your child aware of unexpected expenses that occur throughout life.
Children learn about counting money, they learn about decision making and about receiving an income. The goal of the game is to emerge as the player with the most money. This is a popular game that is one of the oldest games around, invented in 1860.
There is a newly updated version available. It is fun and educational, however, myself and many others seem to agree that the older version was better. There seemed to be more decision making and more learning experiences.
This is the one that I recommend if available. The Game of Life, even the updated version, is one of the best games available for helping to give your child an idea of how life works in regards to finances, is a lot of fun and is one of my favorites.
Click here for more information on the Game of Life, the original edition
Payday
Payday is another kids money game, but with a different approach. This one covers receiving money on payday, making deals and taking out loans that must be paid back with interest.
A record keeper is appointed and this person must figure the interest and balances due.
The goal is to have more money left over than you pay out each month. Players run into unexpected bills as well as surprising income such as winning the lottery.
The game is played on a board that is designed as a 31-month calendar. You may play as many months as you wish. The person with the most money at the end wins the game.
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MoneyWise Kids
MoneyWise Kids is actually two simple games in one. The goal is to teach how money works by helping learn about making change with their bills and budgeting.
In the first game, called Bill Maker, players roll the dice are are paid the amount that come up with each roll.
For instance rolling a 5 and a 6 fetches the player $11. Then the players exhange the small bills for larger ones until someone reaches $100.
The other game, titled Bill Breaker, involves players starting out with $100 earning money with each turn but having to pick cards, “moneywise markers”, along the way that result in expenses such as food, medical expenses and taxes.
You may also encounter large expenses along the way. The player who collects each of the 6 moneywise markers and still has $100 in savings wins the game.
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Websites
Kids today may be more interested in interactive online and home gaming systems that they are in simple board games. There are many websites that offer math and money management interactive gaming, some of which will also provide free activity, coloring and worksheets your child can complete offline. Here are a couple sites with money games to play:
Of course, a web search will yield many more options for money games for kids for you to choose from.
There are other ideas that you can implement to help your child learn to manage their money. Give your child an allowance and have them pay for extra activities themselves.
Help your child to set up an actual budget, and adhere to it, in order to obtain special items they want. You could also open them a mini savings account and help them handle their own finances.
With all of the options and resources you have to choose from like money management games for kids, in combination with the assistance of your educational institution, your child has a great head start on adult financial freedom.
