Preschooler Money

Let Your Kid Make Money Mistakes

Shark Pen — A money mistake or a good way for a kid to spend $7?

A few weeks ago, I took the kids shopping for Mother’s Day. Since they are 8 and 9 years old, it’s one of the rare times that they brought their spending money and had a chauffeur to take them around town. They did the appropriate shopping for mom, but I encouraged them to spend some of their savings on themselves. My 8-year-old bought this shark pen on the right. It was at a boutique store and it cost $7. When you “chomp” the shark’s mouth the pen tip comes out. My 9-year-old could have bought one, but it would have used all the money he brought. He knew that we are going to Dollar Tree later to buy cards for Mom, so he saved his money.

I was delighted by both of their money decisions. I certainly wouldn’t have bought a $7 pen. I personally think it was a money mistake, but I wasn’t going to talk him out it. I’m not sure what he thinks of the pen now. He brought it to school and I haven’t seen or heard of it since. It could be the “it” toy of the class. I suspect it was cool for about five minutes and then got old. When he comes home from school today, I’ll ask whether he got more enjoyment out of the $7 shark pen or the $6 Sushi Go! game that we played every night for weeks. I think I know the answer.

My 9-year-old bought a couple of items at the Dollar Tree. He got a little toy car. Unfortunately, we’re getting to the age where the dollar store toys aren’t the thrill they once were. Then he did something unexpected that surprised me. He got a box of Jell-o and said, “I want to make this with Mom for Mother’s Day.” He loves to cook and my wife loves to cook with him. It was the perfect experience gift! Plus who doesn’t love Jell-o?

He may regret the little toy car purchase a little, but his downside is minimal. In the worst case scenario he’s lost $1.25. That’s not too bad.

This was also a good time to bring up that Dollar Tree raised all its prices recently. My kids remembered when everything was just a dollar. I was able to explain that it was simply inflation just like the money conversation from a couple of weeks before.

I can read money books and they can read kid money books, but we both need hands-on experience too. We try to never underestimate the power of experience. There’s a show on Netflix called “Old Enough!” It’s been running in Japan for several decades. The show follows really young toddlers as they run errands around town for their parents. Some of these children are 2 and 3 years old. That’s not something we’ll see in the United States any time soon. The reason the kids are able to run these errands is that they’ve done them before with their parents – not just once, but many times.

That’s one of the reasons why I believe you should give your child an allowance. Everyone needs to have money before they can use it. It’s good to learn from losing a few dollars at this age. The lesson is lot more difficult later when more dollars are on the line.

* Mother’s Day cards are usually 50 cents – a much better deal than the $2.99 or $3.99 that you might pay elsewhere.

M is for Money (Book Review)

Leave a Comment / Book Review, Preschooler Money / By Brian

Before I get started with my M is for Money book review, I need to make a disclosure. I helped fund this book through Kickstarter. My level of funding was enough to get a credit in the Champions of Finance at the back of the book. I knew that I wanted Kid Wealth to do more than create our content… I wanted to make a bigger difference and support child financial literacy from other creators. The Kickstarter funding also donated several copies of the book to schools.

I want to get my only criticism of the book out there early. It’s listed as being for ages 3-8. When the book was released my kids were 7 and 8 – on the older side of the intended audience. That 8-year-old is now 9 and a half and reading chapter books. For example, he learned a lot from A Smart Girl’s Guide To Money. (One of these days, I’ll offer him a book that’s actually in his demographic.) I would recommend it for kids at a younger age, maybe 3-6.

As a Kickstarter funder, we got a very early edition that had a small typo. I was excited because it was like a limited edition baseball card with an error. The typo is fixed in more recent printings. The typo came in handy though. I offered my kids a quarter if they could find it. Suddenly they were very interested to read the “baby book about money.” What was interesting is that my kids remembered which letters were for which words. They couldn’t find the error without me telling the page, but when I said the letter, they knew which word it was for.

Reading Level

As mentioned earlier, this book is good for Pre-Kindergarten to first grade. In the notes at the end of the book the author, Rob Phelan said he specifically chose words for those reading levels. I’m not a teacher, so I’m not qualified to say it is a certain reading level, but I would estimate it to be guided reading level D.

Characters

The book is full of diverse characters. It’s not just interracial couples, but also families with two mommies and daddies, different cultures like Hawaii, and handicaps. As Phalen wrote on the Amazon page:

“I want as much opportunity as possible for a child to find a character in the book with whom they can relate, and who is demonstrating using money in a positive way.”

It was great to see one of the kids wear glasses like my oldest. There were no blond hair or blue-eyed people in the book as far as I could tell. There is a woman who has light brown hair that could be arguably blonde. There are so many types of people, it’s nearly impossible to do them all, right?

Artwork

The artwork is beautifully done. I’m not an art expert, but all the characters look happy. The colors are bright and pop off the page. On the topic of pages, they are thick – it feels like the book would last through quite a few readings even with rough kids.

Financial Literacy Value

For its intended audience, the book knocks it out of the park. It’s hard to bring financial literacy to the kindergarten crowd. I loved how Stash the Squirrel is on every page with a question to create a discussion between kids and adults.

Final Thoughts

M is for Money is a great money book for early readers. It functions well as a beginner A-B-C book, but it goes beyond that fostering deeper discussions.

My biggest complaint is that it didn’t exist when my kids were younger. Instead I turned to If I Made a Million, but that book is best for kids who are 7 to 10 years old.

Teach Preschoolers About Money!

Leave a Comment / Preschooler Money / By Brian

Some people think you shouldn’t teach preschoolers about money. I can understand that perspective. They are busy learning numbers, letters, shapes, colors, music, and, well, just about everything. (The great thing about a young mind is that it is super spongy.) There’s a place for learning about money on that list.

The United States Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) agrees:

“Children ages 3 to 5 are usually too young to understand abstract financial concepts. Still, they are building a foundation that can serve them well in the future.”

Specifically, the CFPB suggests that preschoolers can learn about earning, saving, planning, and spending.

Preschoolers and Earning Money

You can begin a conversation about earning money by explaining the various jobs that people do. At this age, kids know a lot of community helpers such as firefighters, police, doctors, and carpenters. Kids at this age can learn about running a store as a start to entrepreneurship.

My favorite thing to do with my kids was to take them to the grocery store and the dollar store. At the grocery store, we could go over the prices of various food. Then, at the dollar store, they would get a dollar to pick out anything they wanted. It’s a great combination because they can see what a dollar buys. Unfortunately, some dollar stores now charge $1.25. It makes the numbers a little more difficult, but they’ll still get the concept.

Preschoolers and Saving/Planning Money

At some point, your preschooler will want something that costs more than a dollar. It may come from an advertisement on television or a trip down a toy aisle. This is a good time to hone in on an item that a kid wants. If your child gets an allowance, he/she can learn to save for that special item.

Another great way to teach saving is to use the ticket system at an arcade. Usually, you can spend 5 or 10 tickets for a very cheap plastic ring with a spider on it. For 25 tickets you may get a super ball. For 100 tickets you could get some super sugary Fun Dip. Finally, for 10,000 tickets you may be able to get a remote control car. I usually tried to get my kids to find something at the 25 to 50 ticket level that they liked and save the rest for something great. They have enough tickets now to get something that would normally cost about $20.

Preschoolers and Spending Money

At this age it’s too early to teach kids family finances. However, you can explain how simple spending works. My kids gained an idea of how to spend from the arcade ticket example and the dollar store scenarios above.

My kids also have made some mistakes with money. One time my older child paid my younger one five dollars to go upstairs and get him a toy. It wasn’t a good use of five dollars – he was just being lazy. The tooth fairy had recently come and he felt rich. I thought it was interesting and I learned a lot from that exchange. I hadn’t been doing a very good job of teaching them the value of money. At this age, it’s okay for kids to make mistakes – that’s how they’ll learn.

Other Things to Teach Preschoolers about Money

Beyond the main concepts of earning, saving, and spending there are a few other things you may want to teach your preschooler.

The Value of Free

At a very early age, my oldest asked if we could go to the bookstore and buy a Pokemon book. His grandmother always takes our kids to the bookstore and buys them books. I said, “I think I have a better idea.” He said, “Are you going to buy it on Amazon?” I didn’t realize that he knew what Amazon was. “No”, I said, “I’ve got a better idea.”

We got in the car and I drove to the library. I explained that all the books here are free. The only catch was that we have to bring them back when we are done with them. He picked out a couple of Pokemon books and worked through them the best he could. They weren’t written for five-year-olds. He had the most success with the Pokemon dictionary/manual which had short descriptions of nearly a thousand Pokemon.

When we went to playgrounds or dog parks, I’d occasionally mention that they were free. While one could argue that we pay for these things with our tax dollars, it’s best for kids at this age to think of it as free.

One of the great things about preschoolers is that free stuff goes a long way. You can make a great boat out of a large cardboard box from Amazon. We’ve made Blaze and Monster Machine toys out of cardboard that we had lying around the house. Take advantage of all the free stuff you can at this age, because there will be a time when they’ll want the coolest clothes or gadgets to fit in with their friends.

Introduction to Coins

Preschool is the perfect time for kids to learn about coins. I know there’s a big backlash against screentime for kids, but I’m a firm believer in educational screentime in moderation. I grew up on Sesame Street, Mr. Rogers, and Electric Company and I turned out okay (for the most part).

Here’s a great example of a 3-minute song that teaches kids about the four basic coins (penny, nickel, dime, quarter) that we use in the United States:

It’s a catchy song, right? You could probably sing this to your kids yourself and avoid the screentime, but I think it’s more effective to have the visual of the penny with the entertainment of the song.

Another way to introduce kids to coins is to use the best book to teach kids about money. It starts with introductions to coins and what you can buy with them. It’s a bit of an older book, so you could buy penny candy back then. The book does get more complicated, so you may lose your preschooler’s attention before the end.

Final Thoughts on Teaching Preschoolers About Money

There are many ways to teach young children about how money works. The important thing is that you make an effort to explain how it works. It’s not any different than how you’d explain any number of non-money topics to kids. It helps to keep it as simple as possible at first. You can always build to the more complex topics.

Don’t hesitate to use this time to build a strong foundation of very basic money skills.