Financial Gift Ideas for Children
Learning about money at a young age is going to benefit your children so much when they are older, so it’s important to not only have financial talks with them, but to also provide them with gifts that will be of value – not just toys they will play with on Christmas day and then forget about.
Following is a list of 5 financial gift ideas for children you may consider giving this year:
1. Piggy Bank
Saving money is such a crucial part of your financial health, and a piggy bank is a fantastic way to teach your child all about saving.
There are many different types of piggy banks available, including this one (which has slots for saving, donating, investing and spending):
You don’t even necessarily need to give your child a “piggy” bank. There are teddy bears, soccer balls, and even just simple tall canisters with a slot in the top. Give your child the one that you think they would like the most.
2. Cash Register
A fun way to teach your child all about money is with a cash register (a toy one, of course!). You can set up an inexpensive grocery area in your home (with a play kitchen and play food) and you can “buy” groceries or your child can buy groceries from you.
Use the cash register and real money to teach them how much they are spending/receiving for the items and why. To make it even more fun, throw some coupons into the mix!
This cash register from Chapters is interactive and rewards transactions with lights, sounds and voice messages. It has a built-in scanner, scale and coin slots – just like at the grocery store!
3. Money Management Books
There’s a bounty of fantastic
Take a look at Amazon.ca and Chapters.ca for many different money management book ideas for kids. Your’re sure to find something that would resonate well with your child.
Also, look at thrift stores for books. I have stumbled upon a few childrens’ money management books there before for only a few dollars.
4. Wallet
My son is obsessed with going through wallets. If you leave your wallet lying around at our house, it’s likely that you will find it in Elliott’s hands. He loves to pull out all of the cards and money and then put them back in.
At first, I found this annoying. Now, I consider it a great opportunity to teach him about money and why the items that are in those wallets are actually in there.
Amazon.ca has some cute wallets for kids, but it might be a more inexpensive option to just buy a wallet at a store near you (even the dollar store sells wallets!).
5. Math Games
Teaching your kids about money won’t work if they don’t know much about math, so include a math game in your child’s gift pile this year.
Leap Frog offers one of the most popular gaming systems for young children. They offer many great math games that can be used with this system.
Be sure to keep things fun when teaching your children about money, otherwise it’s likely that they won’t be interested in what you have to say.
Give meaningful gifts this Christmas – gifts that are going to set your child up with a much better financial future than a set of Mega Bloks or Barbie dolls ever will.
Are you giving financial gifts to your child this year?
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