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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 24 matches out of 136 activities

Showing 24 matches out of 136 activities

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  • Including giving in your budget

    Updated

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

    Students explore how creating a budgeting rule can help people include giving in their monthly budgets.

    Key information

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

    Building block

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

  • Researching the gig economy

    Updated

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

    Students conduct research about the gig economy, identify benefits and drawbacks to gig work, and reflect on whether gig work would be right for them.

    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

  • Playing a saving and spending game

    Updated

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

    Students discuss the importance of emergency savings and play a game to explore connections between saving, spending, and unexpected expenses.

    Key information

    Topic:
    Earn (Making money), Save and invest (Building emergency savings), Spend (Budgeting, Buying things)
    Activity duration:
    45-60 minutes

    Building block

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

  • Getting banked

    Updated

    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.

    Key information

    Topic:
    Earn (Becoming an entrepreneur), Save and invest (Banking options, Choosing how to save), Spend (Buying things, Paying bills)
    Activity duration:
    45-60 minutes

    Building block

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

  • Budgeting for fun in a rural setting

    Updated

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

    Students practice budgeting by planning for a fun overnight trip to a rural area.

    Key information

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

    Building block

    • Executive function
    • Financial knowledge and decision-making skills

  • Understanding prepaid cards

    Updated

    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.

    Key information

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

    Building block

    • Financial knowledge and decision-making skills

  • Investigating payroll tax and federal income tax withholding

    Updated

    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.

    Key information

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

    Building block

    • Financial knowledge and decision-making skills

  • Creating a poster on life after high school

    Updated

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

    Students create a poster or infographic illustrating post-secondary education or workforce options they're interested in.

    Key information

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

    Building block

    • Financial knowledge and decision-making skills

  • Exploring community colleges

    Updated

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

    Students learn about the benefits of community college and consider whether attending community college could be a good option to help them prepare for their future.

    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

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

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