Teaching Kids (and Grandkids) About Money During the Holidays

If you ask your kids or grandkids what’s on their wish list this holiday season, there’s about a 99.9% chance that financial literacy didn’t make the cut (if it did, keep that kid in mind for our internship program!). The truth is, teaching kids about money doesn’t have to be boring. In fact, many gifts can transform a teaching moment into a fun, engaging experience, and research shows that the more enjoyable learning is, the better children are at paying attention, engaging, and retaining knowledge.

Lucky for you, we’ve got a financial literacy-themed holiday gift guide from some of the smartest people we know: teachers! For every referral she gets, Traci purchases items from finance-focused wishlists on Donors Choose, an organization that allows you to donate items for teachers across the country. Over the years, we’ve gotten a good idea of which gifts teachers and their students love the most. So, here are the top tips from the experts to help you give the gift of financial literacy.

Play Hard, Learn Smarter

Sometimes, teaching kids about money is a bit like getting them to eat Brussels sprouts: you need a good disguise. And there’s no better way to disguise education than by making it fun.

For young ones, play money is the perfect way to start learning finance basics. Paper money and plastic coins can help young children learn to count, make change, and even understand the value of a dollar. Playing “store” is always popular with kids, especially budding entrepreneurs. We even heard of one teacher who “paid” her students with play money for completed assignments and charged them “rent” for their desks! 

For children in middle school and older, board games like Bank It! and Monopoly offer a fun introduction to economics, while the card game Pit turns commodities and trading into an exciting competition. Another game many teachers request for their classrooms is the SIFMA Foundation’s Stock Market Game™, an online simulation that allows kids to learn the basics of investing and personal finance. 

Whatever you give, pair it with the priceless gift of your time and involvement to create lasting memories while boosting their financial knowledge.

Gifts that Don’t Fit Under the Tree

Not every gift can be wrapped. Many of the teachers we’ve supported prefer to give learning experiences, and a popular choice is a trip to the center of it all: Wall Street.

While tours inside the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) are no longer available, you and the kids or grandkids can still have a fun experience. Listen for the opening and closing bells, rung every weekday at 9:30 AM and 4 PM, tour the exterior, and visit the Federal Reserve, which is just around the corner. Guided walking tours of Wall Street are readily available and can add to the educational aspect, or you can explore on your own. Just be sure not to miss the iconic Fearless Girl, a statue directly across from the NYSE.

Nerd Power

For older kids or those with an academic inclination, practical gifts can be a big hit. A fan-favorite is the TI-34 Multiview calculator–and before you think “don’t they already have a calculator on their smartphone?”, this one is light-years ahead. A multi-line, scrollable display makes it easy to see expressions and fractions as they’re written (and how they appear in textbooks), and can simplify and convert fractions to decimals. It also comes with the capability to input and analyze financial data, like investment returns.

Of course, there’s no shortage of finance-focused gift ideas for the bookworm in your family. “The Intelligent Investor,” by Benjamin Graham, is a classic for a reason, and a helpful introduction to investing for young adults. For young readers, “Bunny Money” is a fun way to learn about budgeting. Find more age-appropriate options here. 

Knowledge: The Gift That Lasts

Boosting your child or grandchild’s financial education can be a powerful way to invest in their future. By providing them with the foundation to be Smart About Money™, you can set life skills in motion that will last a lot longer than the latest toy or video game. For more ideas on leaving a legacy of financial literacy, explore some of our other resources on teaching kids about money. We’re always happy to help you make finance make sense for the next generation!