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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Comparing jobs and hobbies
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.
Comparing places to save money
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.
Experimenting with saving
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.
Graphing ways to make money
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.
Identifying a career
Ideal for: Elementary school (2-3)
Students explore careers by playing a game to match career names and descriptions.
Learning about careers with Money Monsters
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.
Learning to save with Money Monsters
Ideal for: Elementary school (K-1), Elementary school (2-3)
Students listen to a story about saving money and then apply their learning using paper puppets.
Picturing what you’re saving for
Ideal for: Elementary school (K-1), Elementary school (2-3), Elementary school (4-5)
Students draw pictures of a savings goal and discuss the importance of saving money over time.
Playing a money counting game
Ideal for: Elementary school (2-3)
Students practice counting money by playing a game where they take turns earning money and paying someone for a job.
Puzzling out your savings future
Ideal for: Elementary school (4-5)
Using an origami children’s puzzle, students will choose an item, a time frame, and a dollar amount to determine how long they need to save before they can buy that item.