How to teach a 4 year old about money?

[wannago2disney]

DS is only 4 years old but he wants to learn about money. But where do you start?

He knows that you require money to get things....that Daddy goes to work to earn money to pay bills, buy food...go to Disney. He has a piggy bank and if someone gives him a coin he puts it in there because he wants to save it until he goes to the store...ect.

How do we even begin when he doesn't have any real math skills yet?

I know that this seems very young but DS is the one initiating. Any help and ideas would be appreciated.

 

[KMZOB]

My DS3 is infatuated with money. He has been since I can remember. I was always so scared he would try to eat the coins, I taught him as soon as he could pick up the money, that it goes in a bank. This has just developed some pretty good money habits, but he always wants money if you have it. He has his own wallet and he knows to put the bills in there.

To help make him understand more, I let him pay for things when we go to the store. He gives the money, and I take the change. This has helped his understanding of what money is used for. I also try to talk him through things like "these cookies are more money than these cookies" to explain that not everything costs the same amount of money.

Because he doesn't have the math skills he will not understand it wholly, but just talking him through a transaction is information he's starting to retain.

 

[CastleCreations]

If you son knows what money is, it's a good start. At Walmart, they sell play money that's great for teaching. Since he doesn't have any math skills yet, neither does my 4 year old, you can start by teaching him, how people pay people to do jobs. You can teach him, how Daddy's job, pays him to come to work. And then teach him how we exchange money for things like food, clothes, and trips to Disney. I never realised that my kids think that money comes from the bank, ATM, and that they thought food was free. Because they see me pay for food with my plastic card, debit card. So I had to figure out a way to get them involved. So whenever I pay for something with cash, I let them hand it to the cashier, and now that my 5 year old is getting better at math, I let her try to figure out how much change we get back. Just the dollars, she hasn't graduated to change. LOL. Good luck and enjoy this precious time with your son. Lisa

 

[jcc0621]

At target or walmart (I have even seen some at the $ store) get some play money. Play supermarket/store/restaurant. I have started doing this with DS (3.5) and he loves it. He especially like restaurant. He takes the order, brings it to me (plastic hamburgers - YUM!) brings me a "check", tells me how much it is and I give him the money which he puts in the cash register (a shoebox)

I have also started giving him coins for some "chores". Helping me pack his lunch, he gets a nickel. Helping to feed the dog or watering the garden he gets a dime, helping to clean up his toys before bedtime he gets quarter. He gets very excited about getting the coins to put in his bank and he told me tonight that he is aving up all his money so that he can buy himself a suprprise when we are Walt Disney World (not that I am corrupting him or anything )

Janet

 

[brergnat]

The only way to teach kids the VALUE of money is to make them "earn" some. I think since your son is interested, you should start by explaining that people may pay money to other people who will do a job that they cannot/do not want to do. You can start pretty simple by saying that you would pay a plumber if your toilet broke and you did not know how to fix it. You would then explain that certain things also cost money, like water and food and toys. Then, start putting a price tag on chores. He can set the table, feed the dog, help clean, take out the trash, etc. Pay him in coins for these jobs, and then show him how to count the coins. When he has, like, $1 or $2, you can show him how coins can be exchanged for bills, so they are "easier to carry". Don't go into credit cards right now.

Then, take him to the store and explain that if he sees something he wants, you will help him figure out if he has enough money. If he does, he can then decide if all the work he had to do was worth it for what he wants. This is the best way to go about this.

As for him not having math skills, that is not too much of a problem. It will be awhile before he will UNDERSTAND that 100 pennies makes a dollar, 5 pennies makes a nickel, etc. Just help him count the money and let him watch you. As long as he has ANY knowledge of numbers, he will just probably take what you say at face value. Just stop at "100 cents makes a dollar". Don't go beyond that.

As long as you focus on how much ONE DOLLAR is, he will understand when he sees things that cost a lot, he will understand it as "a lot of dollars". If he understands the difference between a lot and a few, he will get this.

 

[MNdisneymom]

...my DS 4 doesn't get an allowance yet. He does, however, do little jobs for Grandma (my mom). Nothing too complicated--last week he helped pick up old dead leaves and brush around some plants along a walkway. Sometimes he gets a dollar, sometimes more, if it's a harder job. He has his own wallet--with Thomas on it, of course! When he wants something at the store we open the wallet, see how much is in there, and then he can't get whatever it is if he doesn't have enough. I wouldn't let him buy anything really ridiculous, and he doesn't usually have more than 5-10 dollars in there anyway. About a month ago (or more?!?) , though, he wanted a small Thomas train at Target (like he doesn't have enough of them already )...and since it was on sale, he had enough and was able to buy it.

One more thing...I don't know if this would be of interest...He also really enjoys getting his money out to give in the offering plate at church. I ask him every week who he gives it for and the response varies between Jesus, God, the church....But once it was "for all these people....who I love very much!" (accompanied by appropriately big arm movements to indicate everybody in the sanctuary....and our church is on the big side....and he's got a REALLY LOUD voice for a 4 year old...I saw the pastor chuckle over that one!)

 

[TinkerbellMama]

DS is only 4 years old but he wants to learn about money. But where do you start?

Let him use it!

How do we even begin when he doesn't have any real math skills yet?

Well, that IS a math skill, so letting him use money is really the best way to teach him how to use money!

 

[clm3]

All my kids are very $$ conscious (cheap) they love to save and watch it grow. I bought the 2 youngest each his bank for Christmas and they love it. It really helps them keep track of their spending and savings. It also holds gift cards they get.

To earn have your 4yr help put his clothes away, help empty his trash, clean off table after dinner. Any little thing. I give mine a $1 or so depending on what he does. But, birthday $$ is what adds up for mine.

 

[trennr]

Sounds to me like your DS already knows allot about Money...for 4.

Guess you need to show him the Value of each piece. With the Dollar as a Base unit. At 4 he should be able to count to 20. and recognize some numbers like 1, 5, 10, 20.

4 quarters = 1 Dollar
5 dollars = $5 bill
10 Dollars = $10 bill

so on and so forth. and if your DS4 can't count that good yet...this is a great way to teach him.

Next time your in the toy dept... show him how many dollars it would take to buy a certain item he wants/likes. If his bank doesn't have enough then he can't get it...he'll have to save more.

Next thing you know he'll be DS7 thrusting a 50 at you saying "it's my money and I get to chose"...while all teary-eyed. (Grandparents and an Aunt gave him some $$$ for a good Report Card all year!)

My DS7 did that just the other night...we were looking at some new Lego Star Wars items on the Lego website and of course he wanted them...but I was trying to tell him to wait and see what they had at the LEGO store in DTD he might find these same items or something better...but he was afraid they wouldn't have these items. So I let him pay me and I ordered them...I also told him not to pout when he sees something else in DTD and doesn't have the money.

Good Luck!

 

[wannago2disney]

Thanks everyone for such great tips!

I have discussed starting an allowance with DH but he doesn't believe in them. Growing up he was expected to do things with no monetary reward...it's just what they did...but when he wanted money it was just handed over. When I was growing up I had chores which I was paid an allowance for. If I wanted more money I had to do more work for it. The difference for us is that he comes from parents who have always had money to give while mine had to work for and pinch every penny. I can see his point of view about learning responsibility without expecting rewards but at the same time I want my kids to learn the value of money.
Both my DH and DBIL still get hand outs from Mommy when they want something that is not in thier budget. All he has to do is say he'd like to get one eventually and she deposits the money into his account. ...my DH has so many useless gadgets and toys that if I gathered them up and sold them I could probably stay at GF consierge level for a month!
I don't want my kids to expect the same thing when they are older so I will have to find a way to compromise and still get my way! DD is only 2 but she has a jar of pennies she likes to count over and over and DS has taught her to count to 20!

You have all given me some great advice and I am going to try and incorporate them into our daily routine! Thanks