Maths Games to teach kids about Personal Finance
Last Updated on November 17, 2022 by Melissa S.
You might be keen to teach children the value of money, but it can be a difficult concept for them to consider, especially if it is not made fun and interesting.
As a teacher, I know the value of making learning fun in every area of the curriculum, including those subjects not traditionally covered at school such as personal finance. Although maths is obviously covered in depth at school, finance can be a completely different issue.
Using games is therefore a great way to get this concept across. In this article, we will look at several games that can teach children the value of money.
Supermarket Money
This is a great game and a challenge for adults as well as kids! It is a tetris style falling blocks game, but instead of having to fit the pieces together, each block has a number on it. You need to match the given total in order to smash the blocks.
For example, if you are given a target of 15, you could smash a 4, 6 and 5.
There are obviously many ways to make the totals, and the levels get progressively harder, with larger totals, blocks to multiply and divide, as well as minus symbols.
A good strategy to use would be to try and make the total using as many blocks as possible to eliminate as many as you can.
Stocks
Stocks is a simple but addictive game that can teach anyone a simplified version of how the stock market works. The rules are simple: buy low, sell high, but just like the real stock market, it can be tricky to predict how the prices will change.
The simulator will play through 30 days. Just aim to finish each day with a profit!
Lego City Adventures Build And Protect
Kids will love this fun Lego themed game, and they won’t even realise they are learning about money at the same time! This is a build simulation game, where the player is in charge of building a city from the ground up.
Each building project costs money to build, but then the finished buildings generate revenue for the town. Players will need to balance their outlay costs in order to be profitable. This game is also a valuable lesson in “Spend to accumulate” – in order to generate revenue for the town, it needs investing in.
Play Lego City Adventures Build and Protect Here
Other ways to teach kids about personal finance
Allow them to manage their own allowance
While it can be tempting to oversee your children’s allowance to ensure they are not wasting it, sometimes we all need to learn by making our own mistakes. Allowing a child to purchase something you know they will not value in a few days (as long as it is not too expensive!) can help to make them determined not to repeat the same mistake.
My 7 year old daughter regularly wants to spend her pocket money on small surprise toys where you don’t know which character or variety you will get.
Some of these toys have been a big let down to her, and even though they are around £3.99, this was her whole pocket money for the week. Being disappointed with what the surprise toy actually included definitely deterred her from repeating the mistake again.
Show them the value of saving
If you are able, set aside a small amount of money each week or month, in addition to an allowance. This could be made possible by splitting the existing amount rather than finding more. So for example, if an allowance is £5.00 then £2 could be saved while £3 given to spend.
Watching this amount add up over time can be really motivating and help kids focus on saving up for a big purchase.
You could get a printable savings tracker to colour in the progress made so far, which would be a great visual aid for children.
How will you help children learn about personal finance?
Do you think personal finance is a subject kids need to know about? Do you have any other tips or finance game recommendations? Leave a comment and share with the community.
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