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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Getting banked
Ideal for: High school (9-10), High school (11-12)
Students select a local bank or credit union to research to learn about what to consider when choosing a financial institution.
Banking basics card game
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.
Budgeting for fun in a rural setting
Ideal for: High school (9-10), High school (11-12)
Students practice budgeting by planning for a fun overnight trip to a rural area.
Understanding prepaid cards
Ideal for: High school (11-12)
Students play a game and answer questions to learn about prepaid cards and explore whether they’d consider using them.
Investigating payroll tax and federal income tax withholding
Ideal for: High school (9-10), High school (11-12)
Students analyze W-4 forms and pay stubs in order to better understand payroll taxes and federal income tax withholding.
Calculating the numbers in your paycheck
Ideal for: High school (9-10), High school (11-12)
Students review a pay stub from a sample paycheck to understand the real-world effect of taxes and deductions on the amount of money they receive.
Investigating taxes in your life
Ideal for: High school (9-10), High school (11-12)
Students play a game to explore how tax revenues pay for various activities and services they encounter in daily life.
Playing a banking fact and fiction game
Ideal for: High school (9-10), High school (11-12)
Students listen to statements about banking and then walk to one side of the room or the other if they think the statement is fact or fiction.
Planning your financial path to college graduation
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.
Comparing saving and investing
Ideal for: High school (9-10), High school (11-12)
Students explore the differences between saving and investing and answer questions about which one they’d use to reach different financial goals.