Kids Wednesday: Money Basics and How to Teach Kids

I found some great books at the library and I am going to be looking for more in the series soon so lets hope that they release some more soon.  Lily Learns about Wants and Needs (Cloverleaf Books - Money Basics) by Lisa Bullard, Christine M. Schneider and Ella Earns Her Own Money (Cloverleaf Books: Money Basics) by Lisa Bullard, Mike Moran.

Lily Learns about Wants and Needs was our first find at the library.  There are "chapters" in the book but they are all short and including the following: Want or Need?, Buying Only What We Need, Everyone Has to Make Choices, and When "Wants" Are Okay.  The first chapter has Lily telling her Dad that she needs a new bike so that she can play outside more.  Her father explains that she needs exercise by she can ride her old bike or do other activities so she asks if she can buy a skateboard or roller skates.  The chapter ends with a question for the kids: What is something you want but don't need?  The second chapter goes through the process of buying a rain coat because Lily has outgrown her coat so they look until they find a good sale.  The question at the end of the chapter is Are the things that cost the most always the best choices?  Of course Lily uses it back against her Dad saying that she doesn't need to see the dentist because her teeth have already fallen out.  After going to the dentist, Lily asks to go bowling or play mini golf but her Dad takes her to the park and explains that it doesn't cost any money.  There are questions about getting ice cream from the ice cream man and root beer at the grocery store and how they are skipped because they are wants.  Then the last chapter talks about how you have everything you need and decide to splurge on a want so they go get ice cream.

I loved all of the examples in the book because my son seems to think (as I am sure many other kids do) that they should have everything that they want.  It is hard to explain to a kid that you can splurge and buy an entire container of ice cream sandwiches at the grocery store for less than it cost to get only one at the ice cream man so that he can share with the whole family and have them all week.  We like to save and buy things that we need on sale so that we can keep the most money and not have to waste it but my son is starting to get his own money.  I told him the other day that I wanted him to be careful with his sunglasses because they could easily break and I wasn't going to buy another pair.  He told me that he had his own money to buy them.  I told him that it is better to save instead of wasting it on something because you weren't careful with what you had.  This book is the perfect answer to these issues that kids start bringing up as they get older.

The second book we read was Ella Earns Her Own Money.  Ella decides that she wants a soccer ball so she works really hard to get it by earning the $20 that it costs to buy it.  The book has her divide her money into Save, Share and Spend jars.  She works extra hard to get the money by doing her chores and extra chores like cleaning out the car for an extra dollar.  She made posters and put them around town to get other jobs like weeding or washing a dog for the neighbor to earn another $3.  She watched a kid and played with her old soccer ball (even though her new one would be much more fun).  In the third chapter, there is buying and selling when Ella sells an old game and buys gum for $1.  Then she made some bracelets to sell.  Chapter Four is it all adds up when she finally earns enough money for a soccer ball but she is too tired to get it that day and tells her mom that she will get it tomorrow!

I enjoyed this book as well but honestly not as much as the first one just because I thought that the first one was more dealing with the issues that we were currently dealing with but it was still really great.  It gave the examples of how kids work to earn money and how long it takes to get something big that you want by waiting and saving.  I know that this is going to be hard because there are so many things that he wants to get and being patient and earning the money is going to probably be our next hurdle so if you are dealing with this now, it is the perfect book for you.  In the back of the book, there was a section with a money chart and how they could make their own to chart the money they are saving for the item that they want.

I hope that you enjoy these books as much as we did!  Check them out the next time you are at the library or the bookstore and I promise you will be impressed.  They give all the information that you expect be provided to the kid without promising anything that kids will want more answers to.  I hope that you check them out and love the series as much as we have!