Do you want to teach your children money management, but finding standard money lessons don’t interest them?
If so, money games can be a great option. These provide a fun, exciting learning experience and pass on the key tenets of financial education.
Here’s everything you need to know about the best money games for kids.
Related: Teaching kids about money
How money games contribute towards the financial education of kids
Let’s face it: learning about money is often the last thing children want to do. The main reason is that kids don’t see the relevance of money skills in their lives. They don’t yet understand how financial skills can impact their future or how complex concepts around managing money will one day help them.
The good news is money games make learning about finances fun and simple for children. These games can teach them about spending responsibly, good money-saving habits, and even investing. Games can also help guide the value of money and financial responsibility.
Beth Zemble, VP for Education at GoHenry, says: “Money games can help contribute to kids' financial education and can spark conversations about money, particularly if parents play with their children. They offer natural opportunities to discuss the role money plays in our lives, and research has demonstrated that board games motivate learning and help kids understand complex concepts.”
If you are looking for the best apps or board games, here’s what to consider.
Related: Fun money activities for kids
The best free money games for kids online
Compare our favourite online options below to see which games are better suited to your kids.
For younger kids
The Great Piggy Bank Adventure
Age: 7-11 years
The Great Piggy Bank Adventure teaches children about saving and investing. It includes various interactive activities and challenges that help kids build their money knowledge.
Moneyville
Age: 7 - 11 years
Moneyville teaches children about earning, saving, and spending money. It includes interactive activities and challenges to help them learn about saving, spending and earning money.
Robot Restaurant
Age: 5 - 8 years
Robot Restaurant has two different levels to engage younger kids. The game aims to get kids to try to stick within their budget and order a meal for robots. Great for budgeting lessons.
Keep Helen’s Money Safe
Age: 7 - 9 years
Keep Helen’s Money Safe is all about making good choices to keep your money safe. It’s a good one to teach kids about looking after their cash and money.
Toy Shop Money Game
Age: 7 - 10
The Toy Shop Money Game aims to teach kids about money. Firstly, they must add coins to make up varying amounts to buy the toys they want, and then they must work out their change.
For teens
Financial Football
Age: 12+
Visa and the National Football League teach money management skills to kids with a virtual game experience in Financial Football. This game teaches kids basic and advanced financial concepts.
Monopoly Tycoon
Age: 12+
The Monopoly Tycoon app teaches teenagers about financial management through the classic game. It allows users to buy and sell and make financial decisions while learning about business management and investment.
Minecraft
Age: 12+
At first glance, it's not a money game, yet the fundamental aspects of playing Minecraft teach kids a lot about finances. From budgeting and prioritising expenses to currency, value and exchange rates.
Scam Busters
Age: 10 to 16
Scam Busters is an excellent game for teens to try and work out what’s a money scam and what isn’t when it comes to scam texts, messages from banks and more.
Starting a Business
Age: 15+
Starting a Business is an interactive game that looks at the costs of starting a business from scratch. It’s a great one for budding teen entrepreneurs.
The best money board games for kids
Want to teach your children financial responsibility without adding to their screen time? Board games are a fun alternative to apps; the whole family can get involved. You’ll find a surprising number of money-related board games available to purchase. Below, we suggest the most popular board games you might want to consider.
The Pocket Money: Spend or Save Game
Age: 6+
The Pocket Money: Spend or Save Game is one of the best money board games to teach kids about investment, pocket money, saving and earning money. Better still, the game asks questions based on the National Curriculum.
Pop to the Shop
Age: 5+
Pop to the Shop teaches kids how to count money. With each dice throw, players will move around the board, visiting shops along the way. When they land in a shop, your children can decide to buy items to complete their board. The winner is the first player to get at least six things.
Money Match Cafe Game
Age: 6+
This is a perfect game to introduce young children to money handling. The game encourages children to create a cafe scene using their own teddies, dolls and toys. After doing this, they must use their role-play skills to add up the coins to match the value of a meal and serve it to the correct customer.
The Game of Life
Age: 8+
The Game of Life Is a great game to show the importance of financial choices and long-term goal-setting when it comes to money. The winner is not the first person to the end but the person with the most investments.
Pay Day
Age: 10+
Pay Day is all about money management. Players begin by getting paid and then need to allocate their income towards various expenses, such as rent, utilities, food, and transportation. This teaches them the importance of budgeting and making informed financial decisions.
Go For Broke
Age 10+
Go For Broke is an interesting take on budgeting from another angle. The game revolves around billionaire great Uncle Montague. In his will, he has left £1 Million to each of his descendants, but to get your hands on the rest of his fortune, all you have to do is be the first to spend all of your million before the other players.
Monopoly
Age 8+
Monopoly: Whichever version you play of the game, the aim is the same. Spend wisely, invest wisely and keep budgeting so you don’t have to declare bankruptcy. Beth Zemble says, “Games in which the players have to think off the board (e.g. Monopoly) require strategy and choices about money that have less to do with a players' position on the board and more to do with their critical thinking.” This is a key skill when it comes to being financially literate.
Big Money
Age: 8+
Big Money: A board game with dice and simple rules. Make profitable investments and expand your financial empire! You decide what risks to take and how investments work! A fun money game that can be won in less than 40 minutes and involves the whole family, thanks to clear rules and simple gameplay. This game is suitable for kids aged eight and over.
Cashflow
Age: 13+
Cashflow is a game that teaches players about personal finance. Players learn about budgeting, saving, investing, and managing debt. Players must decide how to spend their money, save for the future, and invest in assets.
The best money game apps for kids
Let’s start by looking at some of the best money apps for kids. These are typically paid apps; we’ll move on to free apps you can use a little later.
GoHenry app
Our GoHenry app features bite-size Money Mission games to help kids learn everything they need about money. Money Missions allow children to earn points while watching videos and taking interactive quizzes on topics including saving money, spending wisely, and investing. The GoHenry app is designed to be used alongside our prepaid debit card for kids. Start your application for the prepaid kids' debit card today.
Toca Store
The Toca Store app available on Apple, teaches children about money in a fun, interactive way. It gives your child their very own store to run, helping them learn basic money maths skills. The app is better with two players, so either you could play with your child, or they could play with their siblings. In the game, your child is the shopkeeper, and they can choose five different items to sell out of a total of 34 products. They set their price, and the second player adds whatever items they want to buy. It provides hours of fun while teaching core money maths skills.
The best money games to create at home
If you are feeling creative, you can design your own money games and buy play money.
Good ideas include:
Setting up a home shop
Take products from the cupboards, make price labels, give your child a budget and a list, and take them shopping. This is good for the 6+ age group and will teach them about money, prices, change and budgeting.
Needs versus wants game
This one is good for teens - give them a monthly wage with play money, tell them to write down their needs and wants, and spread the money across all areas. See if they can predict what rent, utilities, food and insurance are and if they can factor in other hidden costs a month, such as phone bills, subscriptions, insurance and council tax, etc. Are they shocked or happy about what they have left? Then, see if they can think of ways to make more money.
Board game creation
Challenge your kids to create a board game that teaches financial skills, such as budgeting, saving, and investing. They can design the board, create the game pieces, and develop the rules and objectives. Then you can all play.
The best free money games for kids
If you’d prefer, you can use free money games for kids. There are many different options here, but one of the best is the Coins Game. Designed for ages 4-10, this great game teaches kids about various currencies. It requires your kids to sort coins into different boxes and arrange coins in high-low values.
Search for free money games for kids, and you’ll be met with hundreds of results. Compare the different options to see which games suit your kids' ages and needs better.
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