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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

  • 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

  • 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

  • Coloring your savings

    Updated

    Ideal for: Elementary school (K-1)

    Students color pictures of dollar bills to show how much they’d need to save to buy different items.

    Key information

    Topic:
    Save and invest (Saving for short-term goals), Spend (Buying things)
    Activity duration:
    15-20 minutes

    Building block

    • 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

  • Comparing jobs and hobbies

    Updated

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

    Students learn about the differences between jobs and hobbies and then play a game to apply their understanding.

    Key information

    Topic:
    Earn (Becoming an entrepreneur, Making money)
    Activity duration:
    15-20 minutes

    Building block

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

  • Comparing places to save money

    Updated

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

    Students compare saving money at home to saving money at a bank or credit union and then act out stories to explore which option they would choose.

    Key information

    Topic:
    Save and invest (Banking options, Choosing how to save, Saving for long-term goals, Saving for short-term goals), Protect (Managing risk)
    Activity duration:
    45-60 minutes

    Building block

    • Executive function
    • Financial habits and norms

  • Experimenting with saving

    Updated

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

    Students listen to or read a fable and then do a science experiment to learn how saving a little over a long time can add up.

    Key information

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

    Building block

    • Executive function
    • Financial habits and norms

  • 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

  • Identifying a career

    Updated

    Ideal for: Elementary school (2-3)

    Students explore careers by playing a game to match career names and descriptions.

    Key information

    Topic:
    Earn (Learning about careers, Making money)
    Activity duration:
    15-20 minutes

    Building block

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

  • Learning about careers with Money Monsters

    Updated

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

    Students use paper puppets to role-play a story about Money Monsters exploring career options and think about careers they might enjoy.

    Key information

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

    Building block

    • Executive function
    • 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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