Money Games for Kids
Whether it’s saving money in a piggy bank or knowing how credit cards work, practical money skills are super important for kids. One of the best ways to learn is through money games!
From board games to video games, there are so many ways for younger children, tweens, and teenagers to learn about money for kids. In this quick guide, we take a look at the best games for teaching kids about money.
Let’s jump into it!
Why Money Games for Kids?
Simply put, a money game is a fun way to learn money management!
From homeschooling to public education, teaching kids through fun money games is highly valuable. This includes money activities like how to count money, operation of a cash register, and more. It’s a practical (and engaging) way to learn real-world skills at an early age.
Want to dive into money skills? Check out these Juni online courses (free class or week!):
Smart Money: Introduction to Personal Finance
Money-Minded: Investing in the Stock Market
Whether via coin values or investment, educational games make learning easy!
Discover our online courses for kids!
Best Money Games for Kids
From physical games to online games, there’s a money game for you!
Act Your Wage!
Along with a great play on words, Act Your Wage! is not your typical money game. One thing that sets it apart from other games is that players start out with a deficit (or debt). This makes for an interesting (and more realistic) take on money management.
Players start out by picking a “Life” card and three “Debt” cards. There are three main lessons to this game: earn a salary, pay bills, pay down debt. Created by Dave Ramsay, this game focuses on how to become free of debt.
Buy It Right
Want to learn more about expenses and prices? Buy It Right is a top pick! Recommended for ages 5-12, Buy It Right offers multiple points of learning. These points include handling dollar bills and coins, as well as understanding prices and the expense of various items.
Boosting both math skills and money management abilities, this popular game works by having players set prices while buying and selling items during gameplay. Though it’s ideal for grade levels 4-6, it can be adjusted for younger children.
Counting Coins
Looking for a simple mobile app? Recommended for ages 4+, Counting Coins helps little ones learn about all things coins. From pennies to nickels to dimes to quarters, this easy-to-use app is a great way to introduce the world of coins to kids!
This game offers four playing options: Match the Value (make same values as shown on screen), Make the Total (use the right coins to make the total displayed), How Many Cents? (indicate the value of the coins), and Show Values (shows the value of one or many coins).
Game of Life
Covering many topics related to managing money, The Game of Life (or Life) is a favorite! Along with learning about budgets, the game helps players learn about other financial elements like taxes and insurance. Essentially, this game shows you how to handle money throughout life!
Keep in mind that, even though this is one of the best money games, it also showcases some less-than-realistic situations. These can be used, however, as teaching opportunities. Also, it’s worth noting that the classic game offers more financial decisions than the modern version.
Money Bags
Considered one of the best overall money games for kids, Money Bags: A Crazy Coin Counting Game is a fun one! Though the winner is determined by who has the most money at the end of the game, the real value is learning how to count and make exact change.
Designed for ages 7+, Money Bags is best played by 2-4 players. The play money is pretty realistic, which makes for a more engaging experience. As a board game, it excels at teaching fundamental skills: collecting, counting, and exchanging money!
Money Match Me
Though not a game in the classic sense, Money Match Me helps kids identify and count money. This is done with different coins. Composed of cards, this set helps kids learn the basics of American currency, along with handy exercises in subtraction and addition.
One example is value matching. One card, for instance, may display three quarters. This then must be matched with its two corresponding written values (“75¢” and “seventy-five cents”). Simply put, Money Match Me is a great way to introduce coins to kids!
Moneywise Kids
Want to learn how to handle money, namely paper bills? Moneywise Kids is one of the best options! As two-games-one (more on that later), it offers players the experience of what it’s like to count, spend, and save money!
Educational & fun, Moneywise Kids offers two games. The first one involves players saving $100. First player to do so by the end of the game wins. The second game levels up with the addition of Moneywise Markers, which involve paying for transportation, housing, food, and more.
Monopoly
As far as classic board games go, Monopoly is probably the most famous! This economics-themed game’s history can be traced all the way back to the early 1900s. Since then, there have been more than 300 versions of the world-renowned game!
From counting money to investing in properties to taxes & interest, Monopoly teaches a lot about money while offering hours and hours of fun gameplay. Generally for kids ages 8 and up (though there are versions like Monopoly Junior Game for ages 5+), this is a great money board game!
Pay Day
Want to learn about paydays and monthly bills? Pay Day is the ticket! Designed by Paul J. Gruen, one of the best board game designers, the game is one of the best examples of how to learn real-world money management for kids.
The board itself looks like a calendar. Players accumulate bills and expenses during the game, as well as picking up a paycheck. The winner of the game is the player with the most money at the end of the “last month” of playing Pay Day.
Peter Pig’s Money Counter
Ideal for ages 5-8, Peter Pig’s Money Counter is a mobile app game for learning how to sort and count coins! Available on both iOS and Android, this interactive game helps kids learn how to handle money as well as history about United States currency!
A player can select their skill level, as well as pick whether they want to win rewards. This is a fun & accessible game, but keep in mind that younger children might need help at first to figure out what they have to do in order to play the game.
Final Thoughts: Money Games
From counting coins to using debit cards, there’s so much value in learning about money!
Whether you want to practice subtracting or get your feet wet with investing, money games help you build real-life skills and confidence throughout your learning journey. With the right guidance and resources, a younger kid can learn how to properly manage their own money!
Explore our online money-related courses for kids!
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