Money Management Apps Yield Great Lessons for Kids
Money management apps are fantastic tools to use in teaching kids the fundamentals of financial responsibility. Many parents use allowance as a reward system for helping out around the house or exhibiting good behavior, but there’s an extended lesson opportunity in how children treat the money once it’s received. In today’s digital world, kids have greater access to smartphones and tablets at an early age for school or entertainment purposes, so parents can turn their mobile devices into educational tools to teach their kids about currency values, budgeting and beginner’s accounting skills. Below are a few age-appropriate money management apps and online tools to consider for your child:
Storing Money
Kids love to keep track of things that belong to them, so a natural first step in the process is providing a place for them to keep their money and track their progress. Learning Gems-My Piggy Bank ($.99, Apple devices) is a bright, highly visual virtual piggy bank that makes it fun to input kids’ earnings and see the figures go up as they add to their savings. Peter Pig’s Money Counter (free, Android devices) also shows deposit growth, and both apps offer games for counting coins and matching/understanding currency values.
Working Toward Goals
Once a fund is up and running, encourage your child to choose something to save for, a process that teaches discipline and perseverance. Kids Money (free, Apple devices) allows users to set goals and offers a timeline that estimates how long it will take for the child to reach his goal at the current rate, which provides more clarity for planning purposes. FamZoo (free, Apple devices) tracks earnings back to specific chores and allows kids to input savings goals and even allocate percentages toward charitable giving, which is always a positive lesson for little ones.
Spending Wisely
One of the key takeaways from this process is teaching kids to make smart choices when they do decide that it’s time to make a purchase. Money Metropolis is a fun website developed for tablets that offers a virtual world where kids choose an activity with a set budget, such as a road trip, and then encounter situations—like needing gas while traveling—to see how that impacts their bottom line. For football fans, Financial Football (free, Apple devices) asks financial questions and then, based on responses, advances players to score “points” and “touchdowns.” Save! The Game (free, Apple devices) helps kids differentiate between needs and wants and underscores the impact of carrying a debt load.
Your child will be on the path to financial smarts in no time with these easy-to-use online helps.
Overland Park mom Brenda Hill is the public relations manager for the Kansas/Missouri region of Verizon Wireless.