Financial Footings - Teaching Kindergartners About Money

U.S. Bank provides me with two full days to volunteer (and I get paid for it!).  This year I volunteered at Vestal, Maddy's school and I taught all three Kindergarten classes Financial Footings through a program called Financial Beginnings.  Money stuff isn't taught much at this age, but it's a good time to learn.  The program I taught spanned 2 days - 45 minutes per class per day.  We covered topics including identification of coins and bills, understanding how people get money (working and gifts), needs vs. wants, where to keep money (bank or piggy bank) and what to do with money once you have it (spend vs. save and a little on budgeting).  It establishes a solid footing for a good financial future!

I had a blast teaching these kids and I tried to make it super fun.  I brought in REAL money (!) to show the kids the difference in coins and bills (up to $20 anyway).  When talking about how people earn money, I brought in Maddy's dress up clothes for all sorts of professions including a nurse outfit, doctor outfit, scientist equipment (beakers, goggles), Paw Patrol construction hat (Rubble's) and police hat (Chase's), a pencil/ruler to symbolize teacher, paintbrush for artist...luckily we had a lot to choose from!  The kids loved that part and they really came up with lots of jobs. I brought Maddy's piggy bank to show the kids that's one safe place to keep money and also explained banks.  We also had a whole section differentiating needs and wants.  I had one kid hold a "Needs" sign, another "Wants" then I had cards with pictures of things like: Candy, Fruit/Veggies, Water, Toys.  I picked kids to come take one of the cards and bring them to the "Needs" or "Wants" area - the kids got into this and everyone helped decide.  It was great to see.

One of the last sections was deciding what to do with money once you have it.  I had two one dollar bills, an apple that cost $1, white milk that cost $1 and chocolate milk that cost $2 for a little exercise.  I told the kids that I was hungry AND thirsty, but only have $2 to spend.  But I really prefer chocolate milk.  What do I do?  After lots of discussion, all the kids came to the same conclusion - it's better to get the apple and white milk to cover my hunger and thirst NEEDS even though I WANT the chocolate milk.  Success!

I really enjoyed this experience and getting to know Maddy's classmates in Kindergarten.  I think they got something out of it too!