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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 40 matches out of 136 activities

Showing 40 matches out of 136 activities

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  • Using a buying plan

    Updated

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

    Students read a scenario and then practice creating a buying plan and comparison shopping for a computer.

    Key information

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

    Building block

    • Executive function
    • 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

  • Making spending choices

    Updated

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

    Students listen to a Money Monster story about getting a pet and then discuss spending choices.

    Key information

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

    Building block

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

  • Exploring needs and wants

    Updated

    Ideal for: Elementary school (K-1), Elementary school (2-3), Elementary school (4-5)

    Students review pictures of items and decide which ones are needs and which are wants.

    Key information

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

    Building block

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

  • Spending money on a trip

    Updated

    Ideal for: Elementary school (K-1)

    Students make choices about how they would spend money on a trip to a park.

    Key information

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

    Building block

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

  • Spending more than money on a pet

    Updated

    Ideal for: Elementary school (4-5)

    Students read a story and then write a persuasive paragraph about a pet they’d like to own.

    Key information

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

    Building block

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

  • 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

  • Learning about coins

    Updated

    Ideal for: Elementary school (K-1)

    Students learn to identify the penny, nickel, dime, quarter, and their values.

    Key information

    Topic:
    Earn (Becoming an entrepreneur, Getting paid), Save and invest (Banking options), Spend (Buying things)
    Activity duration:
    45-60 minutes

    Building block

    • Financial habits and norms
    • 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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