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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 32 matches out of 136 activities

Showing 32 matches out of 136 activities

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  • Choosing a student loan that’s right for you

    Updated

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

    Students use a graphic organizer to compare and contrast federal and private student loans to help them find the one best suited for their needs.

    Key information

    Topic:
    Spend (Paying for college), Borrow (Getting loans)
    Activity duration:
    45-60 minutes

    Building block

    • Financial knowledge and decision-making skills

  • Learning how federal financial aid can help you pay for higher education

    Updated

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

    After watching a video describing basic types of federal financial aid, students answer content-based questions about financial planning for college.

    Key information

    Topic:
    Save and invest (Saving for college), Spend (Paying for college), Borrow (Getting loans)
    Activity duration:
    45-60 minutes

    Building block

    • Executive function
    • Financial knowledge and decision-making skills

  • Reflecting on what’s worth saving for

    Updated

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

    Using the strategies of reflective writing, students create a personal statement sharing their hopes and dreams of things they would like to have or accomplish in the future.

    Key information

    Topic:
    Save and invest (Saving for long-term goals, Saving for short-term goals)
    Activity duration:
    45-60 minutes

    Building block

    • Executive function
    • Financial habits and norms

  • Drawing your own savings comic strip

    Updated

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

    Students identify an important lesson about saving money and create a comic strip reflecting that lesson.

    Key information

    Topic:
    Save and invest (Saving for long-term goals, Saving for short-term goals)
    Activity duration:
    45-60 minutes

    Building block

    • Executive function
    • Financial habits and norms

  • 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

  • Understanding who shapes your money decisions

    Updated

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

    Students read a handout and then identify how both they and the people in their lives make choices about money.

    Key information

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

    Building block

    • Financial habits and norms

  • Cosigning loans and sharing credit

    Updated

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

    Students research credit and analyze scenarios on sharing credit cards and cosigning loans.

    Key information

    Topic:
    Borrow (Getting loans, Managing credit)
    Activity duration:
    75-90 minutes

    Building block

    • Executive function
    • Financial knowledge and decision-making skills

  • Differentiating between secured and unsecured loans

    Updated

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

    Students explore characteristics of secured or unsecured types of credit by playing a sorting game.

    Key information

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

    Building block

    • Financial knowledge and decision-making skills

  • Distinguishing between credit myths and realities

    Updated

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

    Students analyze and make judgments about credit and borrowing statements to better understand the reality of debt.

    Key information

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

    Building block

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

  • Role-playing borrowing and lending

    Updated

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

    Students take on the role of a borrower or a lender to pose questions, apply formulas to calculate interest, and evaluate data to inform borrowing and lending decisions.

    Key information

    Topic:
    Borrow (Getting loans, Managing credit)
    Activity duration:
    75-90 minutes

    Building block

    • Executive function
    • 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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