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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 35 matches out of 136 activities

Showing 35 matches out of 136 activities

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  • Knowing what costs us money

    Updated

    Ideal for: Elementary school (K-1), Elementary school (2-3)

    Students analyze a picture of things in a park to identify which ones would cost them money and which ones wouldn’t.

    Key information

    Topic:
    Spend (Buying things)
    Activity duration:
    45-60 minutes

    Building block

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

  • Practicing giving

    Updated

    Ideal for: Elementary school (K-1), Elementary school (2-3)

    Students listen to a story about giving and then practice giving to another student.

    Key information

    Topic:
    Spend (Buying things, Giving to others)
    Activity duration:
    45-60 minutes

    Building block

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

  • Using a budget to shop for a party

    Updated

    Ideal for: Elementary school (4-5)

    Students learn about budgets and then use a budget to decide what food to buy for an imaginary party.

    Key information

    Topic:
    Spend (Budgeting, Buying things)
    Activity duration:
    45-60 minutes

    Building block

    • Executive function
    • Financial knowledge and decision-making skills

  • Bouncing ball spending game

    Updated

    Ideal for: Elementary school (2-3), Elementary school (4-5)

    Students play a game to explore how they make choices about money and how people in their lives can influence those choices.

    Key information

    Topic:
    Save and invest (Choosing how to save), Spend (Buying things)
    Activity duration:
    15-20 minutes

    Building block

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

  • Giving to a cause

    Updated

    Ideal for: Elementary school (4-5)

    Students create a poster to persuade others to support a cause helping an imaginary community in need.

    Key information

    Topic:
    Spend (Buying things, Giving to others)
    Activity duration:
    75-90 minutes

    Building block

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

  • Learning about giving with Money Monsters

    Updated

    Ideal for: Elementary school (K-1), Elementary school (2-3)

    Students listen to a story about giving money and then apply their learning using paper puppets.

    Key information

    Topic:
    Spend (Buying things, Giving to others)
    Activity duration:
    45-60 minutes

    Building block

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

  • Sharing a story about borrowing

    Updated

    Ideal for: Elementary school (2-3), Elementary school (4-5)

    Students read a story about Money Monsters who are learning to be good borrowers.

    Key information

    Topic:
    Borrow (Getting loans)
    Activity duration:
    45-60 minutes

    Building block

    • Executive function
    • Financial habits and norms

  • Being a thankful borrower

    Updated

    Ideal for: Elementary school (K-1), Elementary school (2-3)

    Students listen to a Money Monster story about borrowing things and then create a “thank you” card for someone they have borrowed something from.

    Key information

    Topic:
    Borrow (Getting loans)
    Activity duration:
    45-60 minutes

    Building block

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

  • Learning about insurance

    Updated

    Ideal for: Elementary school (2-3), Elementary school (4-5)

    Students play a game where they do an action to match common types of insurance with the risks they cover.

    Key information

    Topic:
    Protect (Managing risk, Using insurance)
    Activity duration:
    45-60 minutes

    Building block

    • Executive function
    • Financial knowledge and decision-making skills

  • Understanding our money choices

    Updated

    Ideal for: Elementary school (4-5)

    Students discuss and reflect on how they think and feel about money and how the people in their lives help shape those thoughts and feelings.

    Key information

    Topic:
    Save and invest (Choosing how to save), Spend (Buying things)
    Activity duration:
    45-60 minutes

    Building block

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