Incorporating financial literacy lessons into your curriculum is a great way to engage students in learning real-world math applications and life skills. Money-based word problems and real-world stories allow students the opportunity to learn important financial concepts, explore realistic opportunities, and make choices about using money, collecting allowances, applying for credit cards, and more.
Celebrate Financial Literacy Awareness Month in April with free printables from Financial Literacy Lessons and Activities, a valuable resource for promoting financial education and empowering kids with essential money management skills.
Download these free sample activities from Financial Literacy Lessons and Activities for grades 1–8 here.
Five Topics to Include in Financial Literacy Activities
These financial topics are a simple way to introduce the concepts of buying, earning, budgeting, saving, and borrowing into your lessons. Hands-on games, activities, and classroom discussions can engage students in learning these important life concepts and create fun learning experiences they will remember.
Making Spending Decisions activities help students understand price as one of many things to consider when choosing between product options. Activities such as purchasing groceries at a store can bring the concept to life as students learn to compare shopping items and prices. Children often go shopping with their parents. However, they may not notice how many choices there are for each type of item or how prices for the exact same item can differ from store to store. They might not realize that similar products can vary in price. Many young consumers may not have a lot of experience comparing prices.
Earning Money concepts can help children understand that when people are hired to do a job, they work for a certain amount of money. Children might not have regular jobs, but they often earn money doing chores around the house. Or they might do work for a neighbor or a family friend. While adults have jobs to pay for things they need, such as food, clothing, housing, and utilities, children often earn money to buy things they want.
Spending Plans are a great way to demonstrate how to reach a financial goal. When people set up a budget for themselves, they figure out a plan for managing their money. While children don’t usually work or pay bills, a child’s budget can be based on an allowance or money earned from doing chores or odd jobs. They can spend money on fun things, donate to help others, and/or save money for the future. A budget can help children figure out how important different purchase choices are to them.
Saving and Investing helps students understand that saving comes from money you receive that you don’t spend. For example, they might eat a cookie now or save it to eat after lunch. They might save a favorite book for bedtime. If children want to buy something that costs more than they have, they may not realize that they can continue adding to their money until they have enough to buy it. Saving small amounts of money lets them buy a larger item. Setting a goal and making a plan to reach the goal can help people save enough to buy things they can’t afford right now. Money can be saved in a bank or at home in a special place.
Borrowing concepts demonstrate how financial loans operate. Some children borrow and lend all kinds of things from a young age. They may borrow video games from siblings, pencils from classmates, and books from the library. They may lend a sweater to a sibling or a bike to a friend. Children usually understand that you have to return something after you use it. Some may not realize that this applies to money as well. This unit helps students understand the fairness in the lending-and-returning process and models different agreements and ways to repay.
Financial Literacy Lessons and Activities for grades 1–8 is a great teaching tool in your classroom. The lesson units demonstrate how to apply math with activities and hands-on projects related to budgeting, grocery shopping, loans, credit cards, and more. Printable math play money and budget sheets also help students apply skills in a fun way.
The lessons are already done for you and easy to implement. From getting students engaged to showing how math is used in daily life, we’ve got you covered with these free financial literacy printables and worksheets.
Activities include:
- A real-world story
- Vocabulary and concept practice pages
- Money-based word problems and math applications
- Hands-on partner and whole-class games
Download these free sample activities from Financial Literacy Lessons and Activities for grades 1–8 here.
Create memorable and engaging math lessons with hands-on financial literacy games and activities. The real-life applications in Financial Literacy Lessons and Activities allow students to explore financial choices with the understanding that there isn’t a right or a wrong answer.
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Heather Foudy is a certified elementary teacher with over 7 years’ experience as an educator and volunteer in the classroom. She enjoys creating lessons that are meaningful and creative for students. She is currently working for Evan-Moor’s marketing and communications team and enjoys building learning opportunities that are both meaningful and creative for students and teachers alike.