subject: Play Games And Teach Kids Money Making Skills [print this page] It is never too soon for your kids to begin making their own money. Besides leaving extra cash in your own pocket, it is a good way for them to start to understand and appreciate the value of it too. Another great way is playing games and storytelling which are also really effective.
There are a few games available for purchase you will find helpful. Monopoly is the first one that comes to mind. I am sure you would have played this game throughout some stage of your life, and if you played it when you were a kid, you probably didn't even understand the lessons you were learning while playing it. For example, being paid an income every time you went around the board and passed Go, purchasing and selling properties, receiving bonuses, negotiating and the responsibilities of being a property owner (like paying rates and taxes and looking after your tenants) are just a few to mention.
Have you ever read one of the oldest books around, The Richest Man in Babylon? It is a fantastic book to read to your kids to teach them about money principles as it's told in an entertaining tale about finance. It looks at how forming great habits will make a huge difference to their finance results, how having their money work for them increases their wealth much quicker than them working for it and how separating their needs from wants helps reduce costs, therefore providing you with additional income to save and invest. This is an absolute must read and is a great book to read to your children at bedtime.
If you don't have these products at home already and you are not keen on forking out money to purchase them, another great way to teach your kids about money (which is free) is to make regular activities such as a grocery shopping fun. It represents one of the best training grounds, as you have all the paradigms of life contained within the isles of the store. Next time you go to buy your groceries, take your kid along and make them responsible to select the items required on the list. Teach them to compare prices of similar products by giving them a writing pad, a pen and a calculator and get them to calculate the price per gram on each item and choose which one they think is best. When it comes to paying at the checkout, work out with them the savings they've made and put this into perspective for them. Talk to them about how long it would most likely take you to work to make this saving. For instance, if you earn $25 per hour and you definitely made a saving of $50, make them appreciate that it would take you 2 hours at work to make this money.
