So, I came across this cool tool to help your kids learn more about money and just had to share. It is called the Money Savvy Pig and it won the Parents’ Choice Gold Award, due to its strong educational value.
The piggy bank looks like your standard pig, except the body is divided into four separate compartments. Each one has its own input slot for money and output locking knob, so you can remove the money from one section at a time. They are titled based on four different ways we use our money: save, spend, donate and invest. The concept is to get your kids thinking about where they want to put their own money.
The actual product is truly nothing that impressive, but it is the concept that makes this a fabulous tool. In includes stickers that your child can place next to each of the four categories to personalize it. For example, my daughter used a horse for Save, as she wants to save her money for a Breyer horse and a library sticker for Donate because she wants to give some money to the library to help them buy more books.
The piggy bank also comes with a “how to” booklet to help you explain the process to your child. I found this booklet as valuable as the pig. Especially given that I wasn’t quite sure how to approach it when it first arrived in the box. For an older reading child, it also provides some thoughtful lessons about how to distribute her money.
In addition to the obvious lesson of teaching your children to be better money managers, I found this Money Savvy Piggy Bank particularly good at opening the door for conversation. In reality, just buying this pig for your child won’t teach them much about money. It is the conversations you have about finances that are inspired by this product that are so meaningful. Then the product itself is a reminder to your child of those conversations each day.
Discussing the differences between saving and investing, determining how much money you should set aside for spending, and also explaining exactly what it means to donate are valuable opportunities for you to teach your children important family values. For more information on this product, visit their website at www.msgen.com.
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