Teach Your Child to Give, Save, and Spend

Children imitate parents; that’s a fact of life. Teaching your child to give, save, and spend is a learned experience. Thus, it is important for parents to set an example for children when they are very young. The lessons learned will carry them through their adult life.

How to teach your child to give begins with showing compassion for others. For example, during spring cleaning you decide to clean out the family closets. With your child in tow, you begin to take clothes out of everyone’s closet. Your child asks, “Mommy, what are you doing with our clothes?” You explain to your child that, “Some of these clothes are used or no longer fit and I want to give them to a family who doesn’t have as many clothes as we do.”

As your child processes your explanation you may ask, “Honey, do you have any toys you no longer want or need?” Your child hurriedly runs into his or her bedroom and returns with a few unwanted toys. “Here, mommy, put this in the bag.” As you hug your child for being so generous, you have started the process of teaching your child that it is better to give than receive.

Teaching your child to save also begins when they are very young. Perhaps you have bought them a shiny new piggy bank. You can explain to your child that, “Any money you receive either from mommy, daddy, grandpa or grandma should be placed in the piggy bank.” Proceed to give your child a shiny new quarter and watch how excited he or she becomes when she is about to hear the clink of the quarter hitting the bottom of the new piggy bank.

Now explain to your child that most of the money has to go to the bank. You can tell them that he or she can keep a dollar, but then explain why it’s important to save. You can ask your child if there is something special he or she would like to have. Be sure to set a specific amount that will be utilized to purchase that special something. If your child tells you what he or she would like by showing you a picture of the item, then quickly figure out and tell your child how much they would have to save to own the item.

This would encourage your child to save and begin to understand responsibility. This will also help to develop a discipline and work ethic later on in life. This brings up to the next point which ties in well with the saving part of this exercise, to wit, how to spend money.

While you have already taught your child the importance of giving and saving, you have also given him or her permission to save money to purchase a special item. This is the point at which discipline plays an important role.

When your child has saved enough money to purchase the item in question, you take him or her to the store. As they enter, their eyes widen in excitement. There are so many toys and games to choose from that they may want an additional toy as well. Explain that he or she saved for one specific item; that there is only enough money to buy the item she originally wanted.

Finally, there is one last point to be made. Let’s assume that there is a similar item available for less money. This would be a good time to teach a child how to comparison shop. Moreover, before purchasing the item it would be a good idea to check the local papers to determine if the item is on sale. This is another excellent way to teach a child how to save money and shop smart.

Giving, saving, and spending are all part of the learning experience a child is taught by example. These examples are just a few ways in which children can learn compassion, discipline, and responsibility that will benefit them throughout their lives.