Financial Literacy (4-6)


Financial Literacy

  1. Bankaroohttps://www.bankaroo.com/ – A virtual bank for kids, where you can teach them about the value of money in a safe environment. Kids will learn how to budget, save up for goals and spend responsibly.
  2. Banzai https://teachbanzai.com/ – Teach real-world finance and practical life experience using either digital or print resources. Banzai lets students practice managing their money and test their decision making skills. Best of all: it grades itself! Each course includes a pre-test, interactive learning activities and a post-test that tracks students’ progress.
  3. Canadian Foundation for Economic Education https://cfee.org/ – A non-profit organization that works to improve economic, financial, and enterprising capability. Working collaboratively with funding partners, departments of education, school boards, schools, educators, and teacher associations to develop and provide free, non-commercial programs and resources for teachers and students – developed and reviewed by educators.
  4. Cha-Ching https://www.cha-chingusa.org/educators/ – Explore a suite of no-cost, versatile resources to engage your K-6 classroom in meaningful conversations about money while empowering students to make smart choices when it comes to earning, saving, spending, and donating.
  5. InCharge Debt Solutions https://www.incharge.org/financial-literacy/resources-for-teachers/financial-literacy-for-kids/ – Lessons provide guidance, lesson plans and activities for teachers interested in introducing four to seven year old children (pre-school, pre-k, first and second grade) to early financial literacy concepts. (Further down the page are lessons for grades 3-6 students.)
  6. International Monetary Fund https://www.imf.org/external/np/exr/center/econed/index.htm – They support economics education and have developed many educational activities and resources to help students understand the history of money, macroeconomics, the importance of international monetary cooperation and the value of global trade.
  7. Iowa State Universityhttps://store.extension.iastate.edu/product/Financial-Literacy-Lesson-Plans-Grades-K-5 – This curriculum provides four lessons for K-5 using storybooks as the main activity, supplemented by activities to extend learning and to initiate discussions at home.
  8. Money Laughs https://moneylaughs.com/ – A  series of short vignettes (by Just For Laughs) focusing on money and highlighting money challenges, along with supporting tips and teaching material.
  9. Money Savvy Kids https://www.moneysavvy.com/assembled/money_savvy_kids.html – Money Savvy Generation, the pioneer in developing basic personal finance curriculum for elementary grades, now offers age appropriate instructional materials for the K-5 elementary years. The 6-level curriculum has a spiral construct that continually reinforces and builds on previously introduced concepts.
  10. NeoK12 https://www.neok12.com/Banking.htm – A collection of pictures, presentations, online videos and lessons providing more information about banking and finances to students in grades 6 & up.
  11. Next Gen Personal Financehttps://www.ngpf.org – Choose from a wide selection of customizable, ready-to-use lessons, and activities to teach personal finance. Offers daily professional development opportunities to cover a wide range of personal finance topics and teaching strategies.
  12. PBS Learning Mediahttps://www.pbslearningmedia.org/ – PBS and your local station have curated free, standards-aligned videos, interactives, lesson plans, and more for teachers like you. The programming below is geared at financial literacy in particular.
    • Cyberchase (Let’s Go Shopping) – K-5: Guess how much your family spends at the supermarket. Use math and estimate the total cost of groceries using your CyberBucks in this Cyberchase activity.
    • Cyberchase (Making a Savings Diary) – K-5: A little bit of money saved can turn into a lot. Create a savings diary and use math as you learn how you can save money in this Cyberchasers activity.
  13. Penchecks Financial Future Challenge https://www.mymoneymyfuturechallenge.ca/ – Launching in April, Financial Literacy Month, and running until the middle of June, students 8 to 14 years old are able to submit their entries for a chance to win prizing that will start them on a pathway to financial success. In the meantime, students can follow Investor Bill in learning about saving, spending, investing and giving.
  14. Practical Money Skills (U.S.) https://www.practicalmoneyskills.com/ – Visa has developed an award-winning global program that offers interactive tools and educational resources to help individuals and communities build stronger financial futures. There are lots of materials and activities available (a few highlighted below). Also available in Spanish.
    • Avengers: Saving The Day comic – digital version teaches grade 2-7 students how to save and budget money with an accompanied instruction guide for teachers.
    • Cash Puzzler – put the scrambled pieces of the puzzle back together to complete the image of a dollar bill in Visa’s Cash Puzzler game. Choose between 1, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 dollar bill puzzles and learn fun facts about Benjamin Franklin, Ulysses S. Grant and more.
    • Lessons 3-6: as children get older, they can start to learn about more complex financial topics like saving money, comparison shopping and managing their allowance.
    • Super Hero Saving Smash – one page worksheets that teaches students about the difference between wants and needs.
  15. Robo Sellershttps://robosellers.ja.org/ – A web-based game, from Junior Achievement, that teaches students some of the basics of running a profitable business. Students play as an astronaut starting their own robot-building company. They have enough savings to buy a ship – but must dig for and trade robot parts first – before having enough to build their own workshop.
  16. Sesame Street in Communities https://sesamestreetincommunities.org/topics/financial-education/ – When children see people spend money or use the ATM, they are building an understanding of what money is. Guide that understanding with simple activities about making good choices, what has value, and spending, sharing, and saving.
  17. SmartPath https://www.economicscenter.org/smartpath/ – An innovative, fun and interactive financial and economic education platform created for students of all ages. The curriculum is standards-based, with lessons designed to deliver on state standards for Math, Social Studies, ELA and more for grades 1-8.
  18. Take Charge America https://www.takechargeamerica.org/financial-education/teaching-resources/ – Provides lesson plans for teachers to use with students from grades one to five. These lesson plans incorporate personal finance skills with children’s books to provide a fun, well-rounded learning experience.
  19. Talk With Our Kids About Money (CFEE) https://talkwithourkidsaboutmoney.com/ – By designating the third Wednesday in April as the “Talk With Our Kids About Money Day” they want to support teachers in their efforts to integrate financial education into the Canadian school curriculum.
  20. The Stock Market Game https://www.stockmarketgame.org/index.html – An online simulation of the global capital markets that engages students grades 4-12 in the world of economics, investing and personal finance and that has prepared nearly 20 million students for financially independent futures.
  21. U.S. Currency Education Program (Currency Academy)https://www.uscurrency.gov/educational-materials/classrooms/currency-academy – Here at the Currency Academy, our mission is to have fun while learning about U.S. currency. If you haven’t heard of currency before, it’s another word for money. Sometimes people call paper money other things, like banknotes, notes, cash, and bills. Look for information on currency, educational materials, videos and circulation using the other webpages available.
  22. U.S. Mint Coin Classroomhttps://www.usmint.gov/learn/kids/resources – Browse the U.S. Mint Coin Classroom’s K-6 educational resources to find at-home activities, lesson plans, and more. Use coins to teach kids math and finance concepts, as well as general information about the Mint and coins.
  23. World of Cents https://www.mycreditunion.gov/financial-resources/world-cents – A fun and engaging, kid-friendly game for ages 5 and up designed to help teach the value of money through the concepts of earning, saving and spending money, while incorporating basic math concepts.



Articles / Lesson Ideas to Assist You…