Canadian children are often not being taught the basics of money. What is a dollar worth? What sacrifices are made to buy that toy in the store? These are big ideas often ignored by parents.
But, parents that can plant early seeds in financial education will reap the benefits of a child who can care for themselves and be smart about their spending.
Below are a few tech money ideas to teach children about the value of that famous light green paper.
Ebooks About Money
Books about money accentuate the idea of killing two birds with one stone. Reading is good. Financial education is good. Merging these two principles has made money-themed books extraordinarily popular. Now is an excellent time to dig around and find some fantastic books.
The ebook market is huge. Canadian parents can read cheap and sometimes free ebooks to their children through the child’s own tablet. Others are available as a physical copy. Bunny Money by Rosemary Wells skews to a very young audience, and One Cent, Two Cent, Old Cent, New Cent by Bonnie Worth has a lot of ideas in math that can help boost counting skills.
Some of the best children’s books on money are both technical (assistance in counting) and moral (saving big, living below means, etc). Books are an exceptional way to express ideas that are both moral and mathematic. Books are also great because they are universally appreciated. It is a gift that cannot go wrong.
Toy Cash Register
If a child is left to their own devices, they may not use the toy for what it was actually designed for. Some of this can be okay, for a big plastic kitchen set could be used for operating on a little brother. But, parents should consider facilitating their child’s creativity by using the toy register with them.
For example, a parent could give them a small allowance, but it has to go in the register. Another cute idea is to have the kid’s ring up food before dinner is prepared. The team effort will stress the cost of food that goes into making supper as well as budgeting.
The toy register is practical and easy to use. In the right environment and with the right cooperation, it can be an incredible tool for learning budget skills and the value of money. It also has some counting involved in counting back change.
YouTube (a Tablet)
So YouTube is not exactly a gift, but there are two reasons it remains on this list regardless. The first is that YouTube is a stunning resource for any kind of information- however good and bad.
Children can use their tablet to explore YouTube. On that note, a tablet may make an excellent gift because it can be flexibly used for all Internet searching and education-based gaming. If the parent follows their viewing habits, they can help steer a child in the right direction.
The second reason YouTube is listed is because it can offer many fantastic ideas for gifts. It is a pool of user-generated content that can be extremely helpful for helping children learn the importance of money. Skills to teach money budgeting, counting, and understanding what money means are essential to their financial education.
