Summer is a great time to build your child’s money savviness. Here are 6 tips to help you take advantage of the slower pace of what’s left of summer to help your child learn more about money:

1.  Teach choice.  Introduce the four choices for money (save, spend, donate and invest) to your child this summer using a divided bank like our Money Savvy Pig or a set of jars – one for each money choice.  These visual reminders of the choices a child has each and every time they have money to work with will teach them that there is more to do with money than just spend.

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In 1999, my husband Michael and I started Money Savvy Generation to help teach kids about money – starting in our daughter Allison’s first grade classroom. Now in her twenties, Allison is putting into practice many of the money tips I shared with her growing up.  I asked her what advice and tools she values most now as a working adult.  Here is her response – in her words – and a link to a video with my top 5 money tips to help you teach your own kids about money.  Enjoy!

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Walter Isaacson, author of “Steve Jobs,” reportedly clocked a lot of time at the Jobs’ family home, giving him the opportunity to observe Jobs’s parenting priorities. “Every evening Steve made a point of having dinner at the big long table in their kitchen, discussing books and history and a variety of things,” Isaacson explained. “No one ever pulled out an iPad or computer. The kids did not seem addicted at all to devices.”

Dinnertime is a window of opportunity to reach your kids that most parents undervalue.

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Last year we heard from one of the Washington State elementary school teachers teaching our Money Savvy Kids curriculum, about how her third graders decided as a class to donate the money in each of their individual Money Savvy Pig bank’s “donate” chambers to the local homeless shelter.

That felt like a big deal to me when I heard that. These young kids were making the connection between the act of donating and real impact. Imagine the sense of empowerment – pride – they each felt as they gave money they had saved to help others. A third-grade student helping the homeless. A third-grade student who learned that the money they had to give was enough to make a difference.  That’s powerful.

So, this month as we all get caught up in the month of love, remember it’s fun to give Valentine’s Day cards and candy (who does not love candy?).  But, it’s also an act of love to give our money – no matter the amount – to those in need.

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