Teaching the Value of Money

How do you teach your children how to manage money and how to make decisions about spending, saving, and giving?


There a numerous ways of teaching the value of money to kids. One way is to use charts to earn allowance so they will know that money does not grow on trees and you as a parent do not pay for everything. This works well with young children as well as teens. Make a list of jobs to do around the house and distribute the jobs fairly among your children. Make sure the job is age appropriate and rotate jobs when necessary. Specify what each job is worth in an amount of money. Start each week with no money earned and let your child earn as he works. Assign a start time and completion time. Keep track of the money that your child earns using a chore chart so you can pay them at the end of the week.

Earning their allowance teaches children that responsibilities and privileges come with age. It also teaches children to remember when it is time to do a job. If a child fails to start at the designated time, another child may do the chore and receive payment for the job. If the job is not done by the designated time, your child does not earn the specified money allotted for that job. Let them finish the job if they choose to do so, but they do not receive payment. If they refuse to finish the job, allow another child to finish and pay them. Remember to be firm but fair. If your child works hard and does not finish the job in the allotted time, you have not given enough time to complete the job. Let the child finish and award him the money. Change the time on the chart to start sooner or allow more time to finish. Only make this change if the time turns out to be unfair. If the child is being lazy or stubborn, do not change the time. If you only have one child, ask a neighbor child to do the job and then pay him. I only had to do this a couple of times and my son made sure he did the job so he could receive the money.

You can also have bonus jobs when the child wants to earn extra money. Let your child earn the money by doing a special job like cleaning out the gutters, weeding the flowerbeds, washing or waxing the car, etc.

Do not pay your child for everything he does around the house. Doing chores around the house teaches that everyone can pitch in and help. Be sure to assign some chores as responsibilities without pay. This teaches the idea that we all need to contribute to the success of the family.

Parents should not pay for everything for a child. As the child grows older, introduce expenses and require them to use their own money for some things. They should pay for when they go to the movies with friends, CDs, DVDs, video games, make up, cell phone, designer label clothes, etc.

Teach your child to compare prices of items and which item gives you more for your buck. Teach them why you choose certain products.

Teach your child how to budget. Use a monthly budget planner and show how your monthly pay check is distributed for various expenses. Make a monthly budget planner for your child for their expenses so they can see how much money they need to earn to pay for what they want or want to do.

Have your child start a savings account and checking account. A savings account can be started at an early age. Encourage your children to save a certain amount of their income and put into their savings. Most 16 year olds are ready for a limited checking account and limited credit card. Teach them how to manage these so they can use these skills later on.

Tithing can be a tricky subject, but children need to learn that we need to help others. Children need to learn that we are supposed to at least contribute 10% of our income (their allowance) each week. Teach your child how to figure out what is 10 % of their total income. Have them give this offering to their church during collection or let them choose a charity to contribute to.





Everyone has played Monopoly. Here is a twist to the Monopoly game that I made that helps teach the concept of tithing and managing your money.


This game is free, however it is only to be used for classroom and personal use. It may not be published on any websites or other electronic media, or distributed in newsletters, bulletins, or any other form or sold for profit. Reproduction or retransmission of any materials, in whole or in part, in any manner, is not permitted.




Christianopoly File Folder Game: The object of the game is to learn the responsibility of good financial stewardship; making the right decisions about the money we have and managing it wisely. This includes being able to pay necessary bills at home, putting aside for the things you want, and taking care of your family. Not only do you have bills to pay, mortgages, insurance, etc. you must pay taxes, make donations and do tithing as well.

Christianopoly File Folder Game- Rules, Game Board, Community Chest Cards, Chance Cards










How much do you tithe?- Try to figure out how much you should tithe as you move around the board.

This game is free, however it is only to be used for classroom and personal use. It may not be published on any websites or other electronic media, or distributed in newsletters, bulletins, or any other form or sold for profit. Reproduction or retransmission of any materials, in whole or in part, in any manner, is not permitted.


Place your marker on START. Roll the die and move that many spaces. Follow the directions on the space. If you land on a space with the picture of Tithing on it, the player to your left draws a card and reads it out loud. The player is asked "What is 10% of ___?" If the player answers correctly they stay where they are. If they are incorrect, they move back 2 spaces. If you land on the piggy bank that is hungry, you did not put God first and spent all your money. You did not leave any money to do tithing and therefore lose your next turn. If you land on Tightwad, all other players say “TIGHTWAD!” because you refuse to give any money so you must change places with the player that is closest to START. Players roll the die and continue to move around the board. The first player to FINISH wins.



How Much Do You Tithe? Game- Directions, Game Board, Game Cards