Money Moves: Earn, Save, and Budget

Overview & Key Learning Objectives

Over five days, your child will explore how people earn money, set savings goals, and make spending choices. Using simple pretend-money activities and visual tools, they will create a basic budget and explain how their choices affect what they can save and spend.

• Explain that people earn money by doing work or providing a service.
• Tell the difference between needs and wants, recognizing that context matters.
• Set a specific savings goal and track progress toward it.
• Make a simple budget by dividing a limited amount of money among goals.
• Describe how spending choices can affect future plans.

Household Supply Checklist

• Paper or notebook
• Pencils, crayons, or markers
• Coins or pretend paper money
• Three small containers, envelopes, or folded-paper pockets
• Sticky notes or small slips of paper
• A ruler
• Optional: calculator
• Optional: store flyers or a few clean, empty product packages

5-Day Daily Breakdown

Day 1: Money Choices—Needs and Wants

Teacher Script: Money helps people make choices about what to buy and what to save for later. Some things, like basic food or a warm coat, are needs; other things, like a special toy, may be wants. Whether something is a need can depend on the situation. Today we’ll sort examples and talk about how thoughtful choices help us use money well.

Hands-on Activity:

1. Draw two large headings on paper: Needs and Wants.
2. Write or sketch 10 items on separate slips, such as lunch, a winter jacket, a game, a book, or a bicycle.
3. Have your child place each slip under a heading and explain the choice.
4. Choose two items and discuss how their category might change in a different situation.
5. Invite your child to circle one want they would be happy to wait and save for.

Adaptation Note: Let a child who prefers drawing sketch the items instead of reading slips. For a younger sibling, use pictures and ask them to point; an older sibling can explain how needs may differ between people or circumstances.

Day 2: Earning Money and Providing Value

Teacher Script: People often earn money by using their time, effort, or skills to help someone or provide a service. Different jobs involve different tasks, and people may earn different amounts. At home, we can practice thinking about how a task helps others without assuming that every family chore is paid. Today we’ll imagine a small, safe service and plan what it would take to offer it.

Hands-on Activity:

1. Brainstorm three simple services a child could offer with an adult’s permission, such as watering a neighbor’s plants, organizing books, or making greeting cards.
2. Pick one service and draw a simple picture advertising it.
3. Write what the service includes and who might benefit from it.
4. Choose pretend earnings for the service—for example, 4 play dollars—and explain that this is only a practice amount.
5. Discuss what supplies or time might be needed to do the task well.

Adaptation Note: Offer a choice of service ideas if brainstorming feels difficult. A child ready for a challenge can estimate the time and supplies required; a younger sibling can draw the service and name who it helps.

Day 3: Saving Toward a Goal

Teacher Script: Saving means keeping some money for a future purpose instead of spending it right away. A helpful savings goal is clear: it says what you’re saving for and how much you need. Progress can feel easier to see when we make it visual. Today we’ll build a tracker and watch a pretend savings goal grow.

Hands-on Activity:

1. Ask your child to choose a realistic pretend goal, such as saving 10 play dollars for a book or game.
2. Draw a simple tracker with 10 boxes and label it with the goal.
3. Place 10 coins or pretend dollars beside the tracker to represent the total goal.
4. Add one coin or play dollar to the tracker at a time, coloring a box for each one.
5. Talk about how long it might take to reach the goal if the child saves 1 play dollar each week.

Adaptation Note: Use fewer boxes or larger drawings for a child who benefits from simpler visuals. An older sibling can compare saving 1 versus 2 pretend dollars per week and explain how the timeline changes.

Day 4: Make a Simple Budget

Teacher Script: A budget is a plan for how to use money. It helps us make room for more than one priority, such as spending a little now and saving for later. A budget can change when our goals or needs change. Today we’ll use pretend money to create a plan and check whether the numbers add up.

Hands-on Activity:

1. Give your child 10 pretend dollars and draw three containers labeled Spend, Save, and Share (sharing is optional).
2. Ask your child to decide how many dollars to place in each container.
3. Write the amounts beside the labels and add them together to check that the total is 10.
4. Introduce a pretend choice, such as a 6-dollar toy or a 3-dollar snack, and ask how the budget might change.
5. Have your child draw a pie chart or bar chart showing the final plan.

Adaptation Note: Use coins and containers for a tactile approach, or draw the amounts as colored bars for a visual learner. For an older sibling, add a surprise expense and ask them to revise the budget while keeping the savings goal in mind.

Day 5: My Money Plan

Teacher Script: You’ve practiced identifying needs and wants, thinking about earning, saving toward a goal, and making a budget. These skills help us make choices rather than spend without a plan. There isn’t just one perfect budget; people make different plans based on their goals and circumstances. Today you’ll bring your ideas together in a visual money plan and explain your choices.

Hands-on Activity:

1. On a fresh sheet, write or draw a pretend earning amount, such as 8 play dollars.
2. Choose one savings goal and write how much you plan to save.
3. Divide the remaining pretend money between spending and, if you choose, sharing.
4. Represent your plan with a labeled drawing, bar chart, or three-pocket model.
5. Present the plan to your parent and explain one choice you might change if your goal or situation changed.

Adaptation Note: Let a child who enjoys talking explain their plan aloud while you write their words. A child who wants more challenge can make two different budgets for the same pretend amount and compare which better meets their goal.

5 Review / Discussion Questions

1. What is one example of a need and one example of a want? Can the same item be different in another situation?
2. How can a person earn money by helping others or providing a service?
3. What makes a savings goal clear and useful?
4. How does a budget help someone make choices with a limited amount of money?
5. If you had to change your budget, what would you adjust first, and why?

Online Learning Resources

• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: Money as You Grow — Family activities and conversation starters about children and money.
• Khan Academy: Budgeting Search — Search results for lessons that introduce budgets and related math.
• MyMoney.gov — U.S. government financial education information and tools; explore together with a parent.
• FDIC: Money Smart — Financial education resources from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
• Econ Lowdown — Federal Reserve education resources about economics and personal finance; a parent can help select age-appropriate materials.
• YouTube search: kids budgeting and saving money — Search results for short videos; preview together and choose an age-appropriate video.

5 Engaging Assignments

1. Needs-and-Wants Picture Sort: Create a mini poster with at least five needs and five wants. Turn in: The labeled poster.
2. Service Idea Ad: Design an ad for a safe, pretend service that explains what it offers and who it helps. Turn in: The illustrated ad.
3. Savings Goal Tracker: Make a visual tracker for a chosen pretend goal and show how each saved dollar moves you closer. Turn in: The completed tracker.
4. Budget Bar Chart: Plan how to divide 10 pretend dollars among spending, saving, and optional sharing. Turn in: A labeled chart with amounts that add up to 10.
5. Money Plan Presentation: Show a pretend earning amount, a savings goal, and a spending plan. Turn in: A one-page plan plus a short spoken or written explanation of one choice.