Never Too Young to Learn: Money Lessons Your Toddler Will Love
By the time your kids are ready for college, you hope they will have a solid financial foundation they can build on as they begin the next phase of their life and start striking out on their own. You may not know that lessons about money can begin much sooner, and there are some things even a young toddler can understand.
They may not be ready for budgeting and spreadsheets, but your toddler likely does have the capacity to grasp some basic financial concepts. Here are some fun money lessons that even the youngest member of your family can start exploring.
Coins, Bills, and What They Mean
To a toddler, a dollar bill is just a pretty piece of paper, and the coins in your pocket are nothing more than shiny tokens. Talking about those coins and bills and what they mean can be a great first money lesson for the young child in your life.
Just a quick safety note: Toddlers love to put things in their mouths, including shiny coins and special pieces of paper. Be sure to supervise your child closely and put those bills and coins away in a safe place when the lesson is over.
Playing Store
Toddlers love to play and enjoy mimicking the adults they see around them. If your child loves to tag along when you go shopping, why not set up a Play Store at home where they can have fun and learn about money and how it works?
You can find fun play stores at your favorite toy retailer, ready-made with tiny cash registers and even money. If you prefer, you can make your own Play Store with your child. This is a fun project for a rainy day indoors. Once the store is set up, you can stock the fake shelves with crayons, boxes of cereal, and anything else you find around the house.
Clipping Coupons
If your child is old enough to use scissors, clipping coupons can be a great way to exercise their nimble fingers while learning about money and how to save it. Just grab your favorite coupons and supervise your child as they clip them—using their safety scissors, of course.
Once the coupons are all clipped, you can demonstrate the savings by getting out the coins from previous lessons. Placing two dimes on a 20-cent-off coupon or a shiny pair of quarters on a 50-cent-off coupon can be a great visual representation of what is otherwise a pretty abstract concept.
It is never too early to teach your child about money and how it works. The more your child knows about what those shiny coins and funny-looking pieces of paper really mean, the better, and even toddlers can grasp some basic monetary lessons. With so much on the line, there is no reason not to teach those lessons, and the ideas listed above can get you started.