It’s not always easy to teach financial literacy to kids. You can repeat yourself several times, but the message may still not sink in. With research from the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) showing that only 47% of children receive a meaningful financial education at home or at school, it means millions are left without.
“Managing money effectively demands a sophisticated set of skills,” says Louise Hill, CEO and Co-founder of GoHenry, “ranging from basic mathematical skills to budgeting, an understanding of how interest works, and emotional regulation to avoid splurging.”
MaPS is aiming for two million more children to receive a meaningful financial education by 2030. To reach that target, it’s asking all parents to talk to their children about money and combine it with everyday experiences. And this is where financial literacy resources come in. From games to age-appropriate explanations and fun ways of learning, good financial resources have the power to instil the right money messages in a way that sticks. Here’s what you need to know.
Related: Financial literacy for kids
Money apps:
With our kids always connected to devices, money apps are a great way to expand their financial literacy. Aside from our own GoHenry app, which enables kids to participate in the digital economy from an early age, try the following to help them learn about money.
Pigby's Fair
This money app offers children the chance to learn about money management by playing a virtual game. Children run a stall at Pigby’s Fair and manage and create stock. One of the good things about this app is that children get to indulge their love of playing games and learn about money at the same time.
Gimi
The app Gimi’s purpose is to enable parents and kids to keep track of their pocket money. It also aims to give kids an understanding of their finances and can help with financial education. Kids get to see their in-app virtual piggy bank fill up each week as money comes in. The app is designed to bring parents and kids together as they learn the three basic lessons of finance: earning, saving, and spending.
Money Missions
Money missions can be found in your child’s GoHenry app and are designed to accelerate your child’s financial education and help us achieve our mission to make every kid smart with money. To access, ask your child to log into their GoHenry app and head to the ‘Learn’ section.
Here, your kids can watch animated videos, take quizzes and earn points and badges, learning everything from keeping their money safe to how advertising makes us spend money. You can even use your GoHenry parent app to track your child’s progress. When each lesson comes to a close, another one begins – and your child will unlock new levels as they progress.
Savings Spree
The Saving Spree app introduces the concept of earning money for the available work and guides kids through making choices with the money accumulated during the game. It’s a great app as the game demonstrates that events beyond one's control can cost money.
Related: Money Apps for Kids
Money Guide Resources:
Visa Practical Money Skills Guide
Practical Money Skills is an award-winning program that Visa has developed with interactive tools and educational resources to help young people build stronger financial futures. Here, you’ll find guides to everything from credit basics to growing your money, games to encourage young kids to learn more about money, and free materials on everything from identity theft to credit cards.
Barclays Life Skills Guide
Barclays Life Skills is a range of interactive tools, movies, and activities available for kids and teens, from money personality quizzes to ways to save. They also have resources on budgeting, understanding money, and more.
Money and Pensions Service Guides
Moneyhelper from the Money and Pensions service covers everything from how to talk about money to money management ideas, what kids learn about money in school, and the importance of financial education.
BBC Bitesize Guides
BBC Bitesize Money Matters is a brilliant guide for kids around how we get money, why money matters, saving, budgeting and financial responsibilities - it’s all covered in BBC Bitesize, clever videos and content.
The Bank of England Guide
The Bank of England has a huge range of financial resources to explain how money and the economy work. These resources cover everything from debt to how money is made to budgeting, saving, and the future of money.
Teaching kids about money guides
At GoHenry, we have financial guides for every age group (see below) with age-related advice and information on everything from talking about money and spending to talking about money issues as your children grow up.
There is also a wealth of financial literacy information in our GoHenry blog, covering everything from saving and spending advice to how kids can earn money and stay safe online.
Also, take a look at our post on the Best Money Games for Kids, which looks at helping kids develop crucial money management skills via online games and board games. Also, The GoHenry Guide to Earning Power and Activities to Teach Your Kids Financial Literacy.
Related: Teaching kids about money
Money podcasts:
Million Bazillion
Million Bazillion is a podcast about money for kids and their families from Marketplace and Brains On! It’s a US podcast but is a great listen with episodes on What is the stock market? And Why is it so awkward to talk about money? Each episode comes with a transcript, a cartoon explaining key points, discussion questions, tips and ideas for learning more.
Money with Mak and G
Money with Mak and G is a fantastic finance podcast for adults and kids. Mak and G are 11-year-old twins, and each bite-sized ‘minisode’ tackles a financial topic like Piggy Bank Origins, The Value of Money (and how to conserve). As they’re short, they are easy to listen to, and ‘Dad’ chimes in with his 2 cents at the end so both parents and kids can put what they learned into practice. It’s fun, financial education for everyone.
How to Manage Your Pocket Money
From Fun Kids comes this podcast, How to Manage Your Pocket Money. It’s about three school kids who have been given a tricky homework assignment. Throughout the series, they pick up great tips on how best to manage money, save, and be careful online when spending pocket money!
Curious Kid Podcast
The Curious Kid Podcast focuses on helping kids understand the world around them, and that includes money. Hosts Jacob and 8-year-old Olivia explore everything from ‘Curious About Money?’ to ‘Curious About Solar Panels?’ In each episode, they take on a topic and ask questions to figure out how it works. It makes learning about money fun and engaging. With new episodes every Sunday, this is a great resource for curious kids (and adults).
Money Clinic with Claer Barrett
Financial Times money guru Claer Barrett has a great podcast where she responds to real-life money questions from a range of millennial guests gearing up to battle the cost of living crisis. Every episode is packed with nuggets, tips and takeaways shared by top FT writers and financial experts. It’s a great podcast for parents with some words of wisdom you can pass on to your kids.
Money Box
The Money Box podcast is an excellent look at a variety of financial topics, from saving for holidays to understanding pension plans. It’s great for general advice and a really good way to become more efficient with your finances and pass those lessons on to your kids.
Money books:
There are a range of good money books worth buying for your kids, no matter their age. Try these:
Ages 5 - 7
The Great Pet Sale by Mick Inkpen
Everything in the pet shop must go, even the rat with half his whiskers missing! 'I'm only 1p. Choose me, ' he calls. But first, a small boy must look through all the other animal bargains. The Great Pet Sale is great for teaching kids about money.
Lift-the-flap Questions and Answers about Money by Lara Bryan
Part of the very successful lift-the-flap series that kids love, Questions and Answers about Money looks at more than cash. Asking and answering questions like, Where does money come from? Why do I have to save? What happens if I click BUY NOW? Kids can find answers to important money questions and some silly ones, too, in this friendly and useful book that can still be used as they move into junior school.
Ages 7 - 13
Grandpa's Fortune Fables: Stories to teach kids about Money by Will Rainey
Looking for an easy-to-read book for 7 to 13-year-olds that will teach your children about money management, investing and starting a business? Grandpa's Fortune Fables: Stories to Teach Kids about Money by Will Rainey, author, financial blogger and podcaster, believes teaching your children about money from an early age is one of the most important things to do. A great book to read and discuss with kids.
Why Money Matters by Deborah Meaden and Hao Hao
Why Money Matters demystifies money with easily digestible information on everything from the history of money and how to make it grow to how banks and card payments work. Author Deborah Meaden is a successful entrepreneur and an investor on the BBC series Dragons’ Den; she also hosts BBC Radio 5 Live’s The Big Green Money.
Age 13+
Money: A User’s Guide by Laura Whateley
Money: A User’s Guide is a fantastic must-read for this age group. Author Laura Whateley is the consumer champion at The Times. She calmly presents the money facts around debt, student loans, trying to eventually get on the property ladder and the truth about investing. A great all-rounder on the money front.
The Economic Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained by Niall Kishtainy
For teens eager to take a deeper dive into financial literacy and the world of money, this is an excellent book that explores and explains big questions and issues that affect us all. The Economics Book demystifies and untangles those bigger financial issues every teen should know about, from taxation to recession to the housing market and more.
Money Games:
If you want to teach your children about finance, money games are a great option. These games provide a fun, interesting learning experience around money, spending, saving and investing.
The Pocket Money Game
The Pocket Money: Spend or Save. Designed by Woke Babies, this board game teaches your children about saving and earning money. The game asks questions based on the National Curriculum. It is designed for 2-6 players and ages 4 and up. Playing the game regularly with family can help your children learn financial literacy and better understand the value of money.
The Game of Life
Designed to be played by 2-6 players, The The Game of Life
is suitable for kids aged 8 and over. Along the way, players reach milestones such as choosing whether to go to college, get married, start a job and buy investments. It’s a great game to show the importance of long-term goal-setting and investments. The winner is not the first person to the end but the person with the most investments at the end.
Pop to the Shops
Pop to the Shop by Orchard Games is a fun, colourful board game suitable for ages 5+. With each throw of the dice, players will move around the board, visiting shops along the way. When they land in a shop, your children can decide whether to buy items to complete their board. The winner is the first player to get at least six items.
The Toca Store App
The Toca Store app 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.
Pay Day
Pay Day is all about money management. Suitable for players aged 8+, you will spend, invest, and borrow money to get rich. Players can land on Mail and Deal cards along the way.
Go For Broke
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 follow Great Uncle Montague's wishes and be the first to spend all of your million before the other players.
Monopoly
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. Perhaps the best of all the investing-money-board games for kids. This game is suitable for kids aged 8 and over.
Big Money
Big Money is 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 8 and over.
Following ‘finfluencers’ on social media
Finfluencers are people who share information on financial topics with their audience, as good as many of them are, as Finfluencer and Accountant Andreea Son says, “If someone claims they can give you a guaranteed return or that they have the secret to getting rich… RUN! Personal finance can be so nuanced that it’s virtually impossible to present all those nuances in a 30s video on TikTok, so keep in mind that works for one person may not necessarily work for you too.”
Reputable ones to look for include:
Andreea and Jamie @Stocks & Savings
130k followers on Instagram
5299 followers on TikTok
23k likes on TikTok
Andreea is an accountant and a brilliant educator about savings and investing. She simplifies the world of savings with some insightful tips and practical advice.
Jeremy Schneider @personalfinanceclub
415k followers Instagram
115.6K followers TikTok
2.8M likes on TikTok
Jeremy Schneider is an entrepreneur, software developer, and personal finance expert. His financial philosophy can be summarised as live below your means and invest early and often. His goal is "to give simple, unbiased information on how to win with money and become a multi-millionaire!
Gemma Bird @MoneyMumOfficial
312k followers Instagram
69.4k followers TikTok
258.6 likes TikTok
Gemma Bird is an oracle of money-saving tips and an advocate of the power of saving. Budget-savvy, her most popular post, shares her 'rounding up' technique for daily savings: every evening, check your balance, and whatever the last figure is, you transfer it to your savings account.
Humphrey Yang @HumphreyTalks
3.3M followers TikTok
48.2M likes on TikTok
506k followers Instagram
Humphrey Yang is a finfluencer eager to share his knowledge and information on everything from online pricing tips to money-saving hacks and the truth about saving and investing.
Pennies to Pounds @penniestopounds
29.2K followers TikTok
253.3k likes on TikTok
21.2K followers Instagram
Kia from Pennies to Pounds offers simple, jargon-free videos about financial literacy. She has some great posts on saving money when eating out and regularly posts saving challenges, travel hacks and details about accounts with the best benefits.
How can GoHenry help boost your child's financial literacy?
A GoHenry kids’ debit card can help cement the money lessons you teach your kids by showing them the benefits of pocket money, budgeting, saving and how to spend sensibly. The GoHenry app also features Money Missions, allowing kids to earn points while watching videos and taking interactive quizzes on topics including saving money and spending wisely. The app is designed to be used alongside our prepaid debit card.
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