Dear parents, use this time at home to teach your kids about 钱

Millions of children are at home amidst the coronavirus outbreak, turning many parents and caretakers into interim homeschool teachers until mid-April. We encourage all parents to use this time to teach your kids about the one thing they'll never learn about in school: Money. 

Teaching financial skills to your children is as vital as schoolwork. 不像数学, English or science — personal finance is an at-home curriculum that kids learn by watching mom and dad. 孩子们在家, there may be no better time to introduce practical financial lessons to your children. By using this social distancing period to give your kiddos a sound financial education, you'll be teaching them invaluable lessons that will stay with them into adulthood.

Here are some fun ways you can teach your kids about 钱 during the COVID-19 quarantine. 

Play 钱-themed board games

Classic board games, like Monopoly, Life or The Allowance Game, can make learning about 钱 fun. They also teach youngsters important life skills, like purchasing real estate and saving up for retirement.

假装购物

If you’ve ever seen your child pampering dolls, then you know how much kids like mimicking grown-ups. Encourage this kind of play by opening up a pretend grocery store in your house, 配上食物, 价格, 钱, and toy cash register. Switch between letting them be the customer and the store owner. Simulating the real-life act of shopping can be a useful tool in teaching young children how to add up and manage 价格. It also lets your kids experiment, ask questions and put their own theories to action. Fingers crossed that their imaginary store has enough toilet paper in stock.

玩在线

Online games are an easy, fun way for kids to grasp basic 钱 concepts. 我们的 金钱哺乳动物俱乐部 is one of the most engaging materials available on the market today. Kids of all ages can earn badges and embark on quests that teach them how to share, 明智地储蓄和消费. 

这个免费的, teaching guide is chock-full of activities that help provide lessons in financial literacy for kids in the early elementary classroom.

玩电子游戏

Despite popular belief, not all video games are violent and brain-rotting. In fact, many modern games promote strategic thinking about spending and saving. 动物穿越, a mega-popular game on the Nintendo Switch, simulates daily life on a charming island village. The game lets kids take out a home 抵押贷款 and continue to pay off and accumulate debt while carrying out various activities such as fishing, 虫感染, 寻找化石. Roller Coaster Tycoon, a game about building and running an amusement park, helps young players to hone their skills in resource management and budgeting. Many action-adventure and RPG games like The Elder Scrolls, 我的世界, and World of Warcraft give young people their first taste of financial decision-making. Just make sure you check the age rating first. 

Help them reach a goal

Ask your kids to write down all the things they want and have them rank each. Set a date for when they hope to have it (e.g., their first day back at school or the beginning of summer break). Help your child set up a plan for what they need to do to get the 钱 (and how to save it). Not only does this teach your kids how to prioritize purchases, it gets them budgeting ahead of time for items they want.

Teaching your kids about 钱 doesn’t have to be a chore. By turning a complex topic into a fun activity, you can spark the learning that starts to happen when kids become engaged with the topic of financial literacy.

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