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Find financial literacy activities

Find activities that can help you teach and nurture the building blocks of financial capability across the curriculum.

These classroom activities can be completed within a single class period. Each activity comes with a teacher guide and supporting student material, so it’s easy to implement whether you’re an experienced personal finance teacher, integrating financial literacy into another subject area, or supplementing your existing financial education curriculum.

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Showing 55 matches out of 135 activities

Showing 55 matches out of 135 activities

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  • Creating a presentation on 529 plans

    Updated

    Ideal for: High school (9-10), High school (11-12)

    Students conduct Internet research on 529 plans and create a digital slide presentation to inform others about how these plans can help people save for future education costs.

    Key information

    Topic:
    Save and invest (Saving for college), Spend (Paying for college)
    Activity duration:
    75-90 minutes

    Building block

    • Executive function
    • Financial habits and norms
    • Financial knowledge and decision-making skills

  • Learning how FAFSA works

    Updated

    Ideal for: High school (9-10), High school (11-12)

    Students learn about how the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) works by completing a simulation activity.

    Key information

    Topic:
    Save and invest (Saving for college), Spend (Paying for college), Borrow (Getting loans)
    Activity duration:
    75-90 minutes

    Building block

    • Financial knowledge and decision-making skills

  • Using a student loan calculator

    Updated

    Ideal for: High school (9-10), High school (11-12)

    Students use a student loan calculator to calculate monthly loan payments and how much they can save on total loan costs by paying a little extra each month.

    Key information

    Topic:
    Spend (Paying for college), Borrow (Getting loans)
    Activity duration:
    45-60 minutes

    Building block

    • Financial knowledge and decision-making skills

  • Communicating ways to pay for higher education

    Updated

    Ideal for: High school (9-10), High school (11-12)

    Students research ways to pay for their higher education and create a brochure to record their findings.

    Key information

    Topic:
    Save and invest (Saving for college), Spend (Paying for college), Borrow (Getting loans)
    Activity duration:
    75-90 minutes

    Building block

    • Executive function
    • Financial knowledge and decision-making skills

  • Comparing financial aid offers

    Updated

    Ideal for: High school (9-10), High school (11-12)

    Students compare college costs and financial aid offers for three schools and explore how the choices they make can have a financial impact down the road.

    Key information

    Topic:
    Save and invest (Saving for college), Spend (Paying for college), Borrow (Getting loans)
    Activity duration:
    45-60 minutes

    Building block

    • Financial knowledge and decision-making skills

  • Banking basics card game

    Updated

    Ideal for: High school (9-10), High school (11-12)

    Students play a game to learn about common banking products and services and to consider which ones they might use now and in the future.

    Key information

    Topic:
    Save and invest (Banking options, Choosing how to save), Spend (Buying things, Paying bills), Borrow (Getting loans)
    Activity duration:
    45-60 minutes

    Building block

    • Executive function
    • Financial knowledge and decision-making skills

  • Planning your financial path to college graduation

    Updated

    Ideal for: High school (9-10), High school (11-12)

    Students use a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau college planning tool to explore college costs and options for covering those costs.

    Key information

    Topic:
    Save and invest (Saving for college), Spend (Paying for college), Borrow (Getting loans)
    Activity duration:
    75-90 minutes

    Building block

    • Financial knowledge and decision-making skills

  • Mapping your money journey (middle and high school)

    Updated

    Ideal for: Middle school (6-8), High school (9-10), High school (11-12)

    Students complete a short survey to find out about their current money skills and explore things they can do to manage money better.

    Key information

    Topic:
    Earn, Save and invest, Protect, Spend, Borrow
    Activity duration:
    75-90 minutes

    Building block

    • Executive function
    • Financial habits and norms
    • Financial knowledge and decision-making skills

  • Storing my savings

    Updated

    Ideal for: High school (9-10), High school (11-12)

    Students read descriptions of common places to store their money and weigh the benefits and risks of each to decide which one(s) fit their financial goals.

    Key information

    Topic:
    Save and invest (Banking options, Choosing how to save, Investing)
    Activity duration:
    75-90 minutes

    Building block

    • Financial habits and norms
    • Financial knowledge and decision-making skills

  • Understanding jobs, teens, and taxes

    Updated

    Ideal for: High school (9-10), High school (11-12)

    Students read a handout about taxes and respond to questions to explore the relationship between working and taxes.

    Key information

    Topic:
    Earn (Becoming an entrepreneur, Getting paid, Making money, Paying taxes)
    Activity duration:
    15-20 minutes

    Building block

    • Financial knowledge and decision-making skills
Activities align with the My Money Five principles introduced by the statutorily created federal Financial Literacy and Education Commission.

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