Teaching your kids money skills sets them on the road to financial independence. However, you do not have to sit them down and give them a speech about how they should spend money. Being pragmatic will help your kids learn skills faster and more easily. Kids below the age of five learn life skills better when the learning process is fun and engaging.

Your children will encounter many financial decisions during their adult phase of life. So, as a parent, it is your responsibility to ensure they are prepared to face such choices intelligently. Although most schools in the UK attempt to teach basic financial literacy, you can teach your kids some of these skills even before they join elementary level. Also, learning about money at home will be more productive and practical than at school. Below are some of the fun approaches to teach your children about saving money:

1. Play Games

There is a wide range of games you can play with your kids that deal with money. Most of these games will teach your kids about money in general and saving skills in exciting ways. Some of the most common games include:

The Game of Life and The Game of Life Junior: This board game imitates real life where participants have paydays, buy houses and other items along their life journey.

• Cash Flow for Kids: This game teaches children better ways of managing money.
• Financial Football: Many experts recommend this game for kids. The game teaches kids financial concepts.

You can visit your local toy store or online retailer and look for the abovementioned games or other money-related board games. Although you will find some using US-based currencies, they will also help your kids learn different world currencies. Most of these games involve saving to achieve a specific goal, like buying properties using salaries.

2. Offer a Place to Save

When your kids have a saving goal, they will require somewhere they can keep their cash. You can provide them with a clear jar or a piggy bank to save the allowance or chore money they get from you. This way, they will watch their savings grow and progress towards the goal you have set for them or that they have set for themselves. The goal can be buying their favourite toy. This process will teach them how saving helps to achieve something valuable, just like their favourite toys. Although this method may seem outdated, it is pretty effective, even today. It builds excitement regarding savings as children watch their money pile up.

 

3. Host a Saving Contest

Kids love friendly competitions. Most contests have an end goal of winning a prize after defeating other contestants. You can host a family-saving competition to see who saves the most money after a certain period. The approach is a good way of encouraging and motivating kids to save money guided by a specific timeline. However, you should first identify ways through which your children will earn money to save. You can consider rewarding them after displaying good behaviour, completing simple tasks like taking dishes to the kitchen, or doing well in school. You can settle on a prize with your kids, such as taking them on a trip, giving them additional money to buy their favourite toy, taking them to the park to play with other kids, or even buying their favourite food.

4. Banking Experience

You can introduce your kids to the banking world at a younger age. Kids enjoy going to new places, and a bank doesn’t have to be a boring place for them. Explain the banking basics like what a bank is, its primary functions, including saving, and how it plays a role in their lives. You can make your kids more personal with banks through a kids banking app, which is more child-focused. With mobile banking applications for kids, you can help your child manage their bank account using your mobile phone.

5. Brainstorming

Ask your kids to suggest different ways of getting more money and saving more money. You may be surprised to hear some marvellous money generating and saving ideas. From their suggestions, you can ask them to save money using some of their suggested ways. After saving using their method, you can evaluate their approaches in the most straightforward ways and suggest strategies that you think will work best for your kids. That way, you will know what they think about money and saving.

6. Money Value

Helping your children learn about different world currencies at an early age can help them become good with foreign currencies in the future. They will learn to differentiate between common currencies, such as the UK Pound Sterling from the United States Dollar. With this knowledge, they will know which currency is used in the UK and its value against some currencies. You can play simple currency exchange activities to prepare them for using world currencies in their lives as they travel once they are older. 

7. Shopping

Whenever you are shopping, take your kids with you if possible. Let them notice different prices of similar items. Explain to them why you prefer a particular brand over another. Let them tell you which items are more expensive and cheaper. This process will help them increase their cost awareness. You can take them to their favourite line of products to see what their favourite items cost so they can know how much they need to save. Taking them to a mall can even be more fun as it keeps them involved.

Conclusion

It is never too early to teach your children about saving money. The process is more straightforward than you can imagine. With effort, creativity, time, and consistency, the task can become even more fun. When you take on this responsibility, you will assist your kids in developing great money habits and learning other essential life lessons that will benefit them throughout their lives. If you are a parent and have made saving a routine for your children, you lay a solid foundation for a brighter financial future.