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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Playing a need or want game
Ideal for: Elementary school (K-1)
Students play a game where they review items people can buy and decide which ones are needs and which are wants.
Making spending choices
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.
Exploring needs and wants
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.
Spending money on a trip
Ideal for: Elementary school (K-1)
Students make choices about how they would spend money on a trip to a park.
Knowing what costs us money
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.
Learning about coins
Ideal for: Elementary school (K-1)
Students learn to identify the penny, nickel, dime, quarter, and their values.
Practicing giving
Ideal for: Elementary school (K-1), Elementary school (2-3)
Students listen to a story about giving and then practice giving to another student.
Learning about giving with Money Monsters
Ideal for: Elementary school (K-1), Elementary school (2-3)
Students listen to a story about giving money and then apply their learning using paper puppets.
Being a thankful borrower
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.
Borrowing or buying?
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.