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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 13 matches out of 136 activities

Showing 13 matches out of 136 activities

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  • Playing a need or want game

    Updated

    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.

    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

  • Exploring saving and spending game

    Updated

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

    Students play a game where they earn and spend money to learn how our choices affect how we’re able to save.

    Key information

    Topic:
    Earn (Making money), Save and invest (Choosing how to save), Protect (Managing risk), Spend (Buying things), Borrow (Getting loans)
    Activity duration:
    45-60 minutes

    Building block

    • Executive function
    • Financial habits and norms
    • 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

  • 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

  • Practicing giving

    Updated

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

    Students listen to a story about giving and then practice giving to another student.

    Key information

    Topic:
    Spend (Buying things, Giving to others)
    Activity duration:
    45-60 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

  • Learning about giving with Money Monsters

    Updated

    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.

    Key information

    Topic:
    Spend (Buying things, Giving to others)
    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.