Books About Money for Kids

Children need to learn about money from an early age. They need to take money to school for lunch and field trips. They want things and need to understand that they cannot buy everything that they see. Since they will use money throughout their lives, it is important that we teach them the basic concepts of money management from an early age.

Here are just a few of the things they should learn:

• the value of different coins and bills
• counting money
• the purpose of money to exchange goods
• the history of money
• how companies market to make a product appear to be better than it is
• importance of balancing your budget
• creating long term goals
• how to determine good value
• how banks work and the Federal Reserve Bank
• the power of compounding
• savings accounts
• checking accounts
• how to balance your checkbook
• investing in stocks and bonds
• mutual funds
• social security, pensions, and retirement funds

The best way to teach them is in real life situations, as you are experiencing a situation that involves money. But there usually isn't time to explain everything when you are at the store or handing them lunch money in the morning. To supplement your instructions, it is useful to use books on the topic that teach the concept of money in a way that is interesting for kids. This article shows my favorites.

Lemonade In Winter by Emily Jenkins is a picture book that helps introduce the concept of money to young children ages 3 and up. The characters, Pauline and John John, decide to have a lemonade stand in the winter. It teaches marketing, advertising, choosing the price for the lemonade, and counting the sales.

Bonnie Worth and illustrator Aristides Ruiz bring us the Cat in the Hat Learning Library book named One Cent, Two Cents, Old Cent, New Cent: All About Money. It provides a simple look at the history of money beginning with the ancient practice of bartering and goes on to discuss banking and minting coins. While it is not as enjoyable as other Dr. Seuss books, it does provide a fun way for children ages 4 and up to be introduced to financial concepts and the world economy.

The Everything Kids' Money Book: Earn it, save it, and watch it grow! is written for children over 9. It covers many different aspects of money. It includes a variety of lessons, including the history of money, the banking system, how bills and coins are made, the use of money and the things that can be purchased, how to save money and watch it grow, investments and credit cards. It even covers the Federal Reserve Bank and the Euro. All of this is done in a way to make it interesting for kids to learn about finance.

Money Sense for Kids by Hollis Page Harman provides children over the age of 9 details to their money questions. The first part discusses the history of money and the U.S. currency including details such as serial numbers and the safety features in the newly designed bills. The second part explains the use of social security numbers and provides suggestions on how to earn money. The third part discusses investments, stocks and bonds. It talks about the three different stock exchanges.

Growing Money: A Complete Investing Guide for Kids by Gail Karlitz and Debbie Honig helps kids age 8 and up learn how to invest their savings. It explains savings accounts, stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. It shows them how to keep track of the deposits and withdrawals in their savings accounts. It helps children understand the power of compound interest, and uses real life examples of companies that will interest children to help them understand stocks. It helps them measure their risk tolerance. It is easy to understand and explains financial terminology and important concepts that will help them in their life.

There are tests at the end of the chapters and a game at the end of the book that helps measure what they have learned.

From learning the concept of money in general as a means to obtain goods and services, to learning the value of individual coins and bills, to learning to count money, earn it, spend it, and invest it, children need to learn how to handle money so they don't get cheated and so that they can save enough for what they want. The books listed in this article will help supplement the values that you teach your children. These books make learning about money fun, and help make sure that your kids have the skills they need to learn to be successful in life.