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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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136 activities

136 activities

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • Borrowing or buying?

    Updated

    Ideal for: Elementary school (K-1)

    Students learn the difference between borrowing and buying things and then play a game where they sit or stand to distinguish between borrowing or buying.

    Key information

    Topic:
    Spend (Buying things), Borrow (Getting loans)
    Activity duration:
    15-20 minutes

    Building block

    • Financial habits and norms
    • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • Investigating taxes in your life

    Updated

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

    Students play a game to explore how tax revenues pay for various activities and services they encounter in daily life.

    Key information

    Topic:
    Earn (Paying taxes)
    Activity duration:
    15-20 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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