May is observed as a child's mouth, so I decided to search the Internet for interesting and fun ways to teach our children about money and personal finance. Equipping our kids to handle money wisely is one of the most important skills we can give them.
It is my dream that one day, there will be a financial literacy curriculum in all schools so that our children will be fully prepared to deal with managing, multiplying, and maintaining their money as adults.
RELATED: How To Teach Your Kids About Credit Cards
Let’s Look at Some Websites That Offer Stimulating Money Lessons and Products
Rich Kid Smart Kid
Developed by the team that created the Rich Dad Poor Dad series of books, this site uses interactive games to teach valuable financial lessons. Each game has different age levels, showing kids how to make a profit, deal with debt, pay yourself first, and invest in business and assets.
It features detailed teacher's guides for all the games. Also available for purchase online are the CASHFLOW for Kids CD and board game, which are excellent tools to help children ages six and over, learn important concepts about attaining financial freedom.
Young Investors Network
Offered by Citigroup, this site features a cool, interactive game called PlayVestor that's best for older children. The game takes you to Lemon-Aid where you learn how to operate a business to make a profit and give donations;
Bowl for the Goal where you set targets for your investing needs, Financial Re-turns a memory game that teaches you investing terms; Target Values which is perfect for trigger-happy video game players; and Credit Carts, a road racing game that tested your dexterity in avoiding money pitfalls while earning income at the Money Station.
This game had me hooked, but unfortunately, my mouse skills left a lot to be desired! The site also features simple goal calculators.
Investing for Kids
This is an excellent resource for teaching teenagers about personal finance. It was actually created by young people and uses simple, effective language and examples that are easy to understand.
It features a beginners section that takes you through goal setting, inflation, investing options, and risks; a goal calculator that demonstrates how to save for college or how to make a million dollars; and a stock learning center that explains the intricacies of investing in the stock market.
Big Money Adventure
This website features five cute cartoon characters that accompany kids through different adventures. It's appropriate for all ages, and best for children who are learning the basics about money.
Rainbow Castle, for two to six-year-olds, gives coloring pages; Storybook Adventures is an interactive tale of how kids make decisions with money, that's geared at six to ten years olds, and Star Traders gives older children to choose stocks. Just key in ‘Big Money Adventure' and you'll be re-directed to the site which is operated by a U.S. brokerage firm, A.G. Edwards.
YoungInvestor.com
This site offers excellent resources for younger children, teens, parents, and teachers. In simple terms, it explains topics such as investing goals, understanding the stock market, budgeting, charitable giving, and more.
You can download a wide variety of games and word puzzles that will help to stimulate kids to learn more about personal finance and test their skills in the Stock Race and Stock Drop games.
SmartStart for Kids
This site is CIBC's kid-friendly way to teach the basics of money and banking. The ABC's of Money defines common financial terms in simple language, while other links feature basic lessons on saving, investing, and borrowing.
The games section offers Pig-e-Bank, in which younger children can try to fill up their piggy banks with falling coins; while the Allowance Room teaches kids how long they would have to save up their allowances in order to buy toys and other items. Key in SmartStart for Kids into Google and it will locate the site for you.
BuckInvestor.com
This site declares itself the ‘most comprehensive resource for investors under 35', so it's targeted to young adults as well as older children. The high points about this site are that it presents a wealth of information about many financial topics, and it uses simple language to explain subjects such as compounding, asset allocation, and inflation.
I would recommend that parents and older children explore this site together, as it's a great learning tool that can help both young and old become better investors.
The Internet is teeming with many more websites geared at teaching our kids to be money-savvy, so log on and spend some quality time with them. You'll definitely end up learning important financial tips that will help you, too!
Copyright © 2008 Cherryl Hanson Simpson.
