Introducing Your Child to Money at the Preschool Level

How You Can Teach Your Toddler or Preschooler About Money

By Jennifer Foote, published Aug 06, 2007
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Are you looking to prepare your toddler for preschool from home or even homeschool preschool them? If you are, you may place a focus on the alphabet and counting, but did you know that you should also place a focus on money, namely money management? Although it may seem a little soon to teach your child about money, it is never too soon to so.

When looking to educate your toddler or preschooler on money, there are a number of different approaches that you can take. One approach that your toddler or preschooler will likely enjoy involves playing with a cash register. Play cash registers often come with play money or you can use some of your own. Should you decide to use real money, namely coins, it is important to exercise caution and ensure that your child is old enjoy to handle small coins.

Play cash registers are nice, as they come in a number of different formats. Whether you are on a budget or not, you should be able to find affordable play cash registers, which may come with food or other supermarket products. Another reason why introducing your child to money with a play cash register is a good idea is because they are essentially playing with a toy. Toys are a great way to educate your child, but keep the whole learning process fun and exciting at the same time. In addition to toy cash registers, you should also be able to find play ATM machines.

Another easy way that you can work to teach your child about money, namely the importance of saving it, is by purchasing a piggy bank for your child. In fact, your child can even make their own decorated piggy banks out of chip cans or cardboard boxes. Whether your child's piggy bank is homemade or store bought, it can help them learn the importance of saving money. What you will want to do is have your child place their own money in their piggy bank, while discussing which each coin or dollar is worth. To reward your child, you may want to allow them to take a few dollars from their piggy bank every couple of months to make a purchase for themselves.

Takeaways
  • There are a number of ways that you can go about educating your child on money.
  • Play cash registers are a great way to introduce your preschooler to money.
  • Piggy banks can help your child learn the importance of saving money.
Did You Know?
There are a number of benefits to introducing your child to money management at an early age.
Comments
Showing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
 
 
Great ideas, Jennifer! I agree--it's never too early to teach kids about money.

Posted on 08/20/2007 at 2:08:00 PM

 
Great article.

Posted on 08/10/2007 at 3:08:00 PM

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