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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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136 activities

136 activities

  • Saving and investing card game

    Updated

    Ideal for: Middle school (6-8)

    Students play a game to learn the difference between saving and investing and explore when to save or invest.

    Key information

    Topic:
    Save and invest (Choosing how to save, Saving for long-term goals, Saving for short-term goals)
    Activity duration:
    45-60 minutes

    Building block

    • Executive function
    • Financial knowledge and decision-making skills

  • Analyzing budgets

    Updated

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

    Students analyze case studies and apply the 50-30-20 rule of budgeting.

    Key information

    Topic:
    Spend (Budgeting, Buying things, Paying bills)
    Activity duration:
    75-90 minutes

    Building block

    • Financial knowledge and decision-making skills

  • Bouncing ball budgets

    Updated

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

    Through an interactive game, students share spending decisions they’ve made in the past and start to think about their spending habits in new ways.

    Key information

    Topic:
    Spend (Budgeting, Buying things)
    Activity duration:
    15-20 minutes

    Building block

    • Financial habits and norms

  • Counting cash

    Updated

    Ideal for: Middle school (6-8)

    Students practice handling money through simulated purchases and sales transactions.

    Key information

    Topic:
    Earn (Making money), Spend (Buying things)
    Activity duration:
    45-60 minutes

    Building block

    • Financial habits and norms

  • Examining elements of a paycheck

    Updated

    Ideal for: Middle school (6-8)

    Students review a sample pay stub to understand the real-world effect of taxes and deductions on the amount of money workers take home.

    Key information

    Topic:
    Earn (Getting paid, Making money, Paying taxes)
    Activity duration:
    45-60 minutes

    Building block

    • Financial knowledge and decision-making skills

  • Turning hobbies into earnings

    Updated

    Ideal for: Middle school (6-8)

    After learning about the term “gig economy,” students brainstorm a list of fun hobbies or activities they enjoy doing that could be turned into money-making opportunities.

    Key information

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

    Building block

    • Executive function
Activities align with the My Money Five principles introduced by the statutorily created federal Financial Literacy and Education Commission.

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