Most parents don’t really think of Christmas as a good time to teach kids life lessons, and kids certainly don’t!
It’s a time for celebration and giving. And this is exactly why it can be a great time to teach your kids some valuable tips on budgeting and money.
From a parent’s point of view, the idea of Santa grouping kids into naughty and nice columns is the greatest lie ever told to children; and it’s really just a way to keep your kids in line, at least for the week before Christmas. But it’s actually grounded in a financial truth.
You have to earn the things you want, by behaving in a certain way. And the same goes for saving: if you want a new car you have to earn it by exercising good savings behaviour. A ‘nice point’ is Santa’s Christmas currency, and kids understand this from a very young age.
So what does this mean for lessons in money? Make your kids earn it. Get them to write a letter to Santa listing what they want for Christmas, and then write one back (from Santa) proposing how they work towards it – for example, taking out the garbage, mowing the lawn, or keeping their room clean. This will introduce your kids to goal-based saving. And after Christmas, you could start a pocket money system where they earn money by completing the same chores they did leading up to Christmas.
Another way to teach your kids about money and goal-saving is by the type of gift you give them. This doesn’t mean buying your six-year-old the revised edition of “Think and grow rich”, but it does mean putting some thought into what presents might benefit them.
There are also some great board games out there for teaching kids about savings and money. Two of the better ones are Moneywise kids and Money Bags. Both introduce kids to money in a fun way.