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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.

Illustration of teacher and student activity books

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Showing 30 matches out of 136 activities

Showing 30 matches out of 136 activities

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  • 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

  • Comparing higher education choices

    Updated

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

    Students explore higher education options by comparing similarities and differences between two colleges near where they live.

    Key information

    Topic:
    Earn (Learning about careers, Making money), Spend (Paying for college)
    Activity duration:
    45-60 minutes

    Building block

    • 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

  • Matching interests and talents to careers

    Updated

    Ideal for: Elementary school (4-5)

    Students match two people’s interests and talents to ideal careers and then write about their own interests, talents, and possible career choices.

    Key information

    Topic:
    Earn (Learning about careers, Making money)
    Activity duration:
    45-60 minutes

    Building block

    • Financial knowledge and decision-making skills

  • Starting your own business

    Updated

    Ideal for: Elementary school (4-5), Middle school (6-8)

    Students practice being entrepreneurs by thinking of businesses they might start based on their own ideas, talents, or passions.

    Key information

    Topic:
    Earn (Becoming an entrepreneur, Making money)
    Activity duration:
    75-90 minutes

    Building block

    • Financial knowledge and decision-making skills

  • Graphing ways to make money

    Updated

    Ideal for: Elementary school (4-5)

    Students discuss ways young people can earn money and complete a math and graphing exercise to apply their knowledge.

    Key information

    Topic:
    Earn (Becoming an entrepreneur, Making money)
    Activity duration:
    45-60 minutes

    Building block

    • Financial habits and norms

  • Choosing a career

    Updated

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

    Students identify their interests and talents after reading a story about characters who explore careers connected to things they like to do.

    Key information

    Topic:
    Earn (Learning about careers, Making money)
    Activity duration:
    45-60 minutes

    Building block

    • Executive function
    • Financial habits and norms

  • Comparing careers and income

    Updated

    Ideal for: Elementary school (4-5)

    Students compare education requirements and typical incomes for different careers.

    Key information

    Topic:
    Earn (Learning about careers, Making money)
    Activity duration:
    45-60 minutes

    Building block

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

  • Bouncing ball money choices

    Updated

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

    Students play a game to share how they think and feel about money.

    Key information

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

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