Teaching your kids to manage their own money can be tough. You may feel like they’re too young to truly get a grasp on what saving money really means or believe that the free online education tools on the web today are boring and not engaging enough to keep your child motivated. As an avid shopper, I think it is never too early to begin teaching kids about money and saving. If I personally would have learned earlier in life, it would not have taken me until adulthood before I truly understood the importance of money management.
In order to help our Sandy Savers ages 7-12, Delta Community offers our Cool Cash Kids website, which helps children learn in a fun, interactive and educational way. By going to the Tonocash website, kids are introduced to managing money through interactive experiences in earning, saving and spending. Parents and children together can explore the virtual town by stopping at familiar-looking venues, such as a library, a Delta Community branch, a Café and the elementary school with teacher Flo Cash and the Cool Cash Kids. My husband and I currently do not have children, but with my husband being an accountant, I know it will be important to him and me to teach our children that saving money can be fun, especially since it will be our allowance money initially.
After playing around on the website, I found that Cool Cash Kids features four interactive activities to encourage good money management including:
- Interactive Games – Children can play the video –style game, Candy Store Caper, to catch coins and bags of money while balancing out their spending and saving to reach pre-determined goals and level power-ups.
- Education Tutorials – Visits to the virtual Delta community branch give children the opportunity to learn how to write a check and how to complete a deposit slip step by step.
- Dynamic Comic - Follow the adventures of the Cool Cash Kids and Flo Cash, as they explore all there is to learn in the town of TonoCash.
- Newsletter - Children who utilize the website will gain access to a quarterly newsletter giving updates on the city of TonoCash and provide money management tips.
And for those children that do not have a Sandy Savers account, opening one is extremely easy. Just complete the Sandy Savers™ Club Enrollment Form and return it to any Delta Community CU branch along with the $5 membership deposit. Any child, grandchild, sister, brother, niece, nephew or cousin (natural, legally adopted or step) 12 years of age and under of an eligible Delta Community CU member can join as long as they have a joint owner. So, even though I don’t have a little one yet, I am glad I can sign my niece and nephew up for an account and help my sister introduce money management to them.
Also, once the Savings Account is opened, all Sandy Savers will receive a special gift. And to help them celebrate their birthday, they’ll get a special birthday card mailed to them the month of their birthday.
See, teaching kids about managing money can be fun and stress-free!
Article submitted by Jeff
