Meet Kirsten & David. Like most kids their ages, Kirsten is obsessed with everything girly, Barbies, Ponies, Lip Gloss & Dress-up and then there is David, who can always be found with a matchbox car hidden in his pocket. He loves cars, Spiderman and most importantly - Transformers.
And just like most other kids their age, there is always something else that they want. I remember when Kirsten was first born, Matt and I were certain that none of our kids would ever be this way,... we would teach them to be content from the start and they would never act out in public if they couldn't get something in the store... hahaha.... Well, needless to say, we've had to deal with our share of tantrums in public and while I'm usually pretty good about the whole "no means no" thing, I wanted to find some sort of solution.
My first solution came in the form of an allowance for each kids. It worked good for a little bit, but then I found that I was quickly becoming broke because Kirsten would seriously do every chore in the house to make money! In addition, because she was only 5 at the time, she would lose most of that money within a few days. I know it wasn't lost forever - it was somewhere in the house - on her dresser, in the bottom of the toy box, outside in her playhouse, but never in one safe spot. I didn't want to completely give up allowances, but I needed a way to fix the system.
Then came along this really great website - www.festisite.com/money. Oh how this website R*O*C*K*S*! Instead of giving my kids real cash when they help out around the house, they now collect play money - but even better then play money, this site lets you put any picture on the face of your dollar. Awesome right!?!?
(Kirsten's Cash)
(David's Dollars)Now my kids get a few dollars anytime they clean their room, help with chores around the house, even when they play nicely. We call it Kids Cash and there are lots of ways that the kids can cash them is for stuff based on a rewards system we set up when we got started! For instance, they can redeem 4 Kids Cash Dollars for $1.00 if they are saving for something to buy in the store, 15 Kids Cash Dollars can be redeemed for a Movie Rental, 50 Kids Cash Dollars can be used for their choice of going to Chuck E. Cheese or Bowling, and 75 Kids Cash Dollars can be redeemed for a trip to the movie theater. Our kids love the idea of Kids Cash and since starting it, we don't see nearly as many tantrums over things they can't have & they appreciate the things they earn more because they understand the work that went into getting it.
Here are some handy tips for Kids Cash:
- Don't make earning Kids Cash a hard thing - Kids can get discouraged easily, so if you are expecting adult quality work from your 5 year old, chances are your kids won't earn much.
- Let your kids pool their $$$ together for larger rewards - If both kids are working for the same thing, (ex. Both kids want to see the same movie at the theater) we don't make both kids earn 75 Kids Cash. They can each contribute their dollars OR one child can pay for the family reward.
- Put their face on it! - We have separate "banks" for each of our kids to keep their Kids Cash, but lets face it, they're kids. To make sure that Kirsten's money doesn't get mixed up with David's, we put Kirsten's face on her dollars & David's face on his! The kids love seeing their face on their money and it helps us identify who earned what. We even have $5 bills with Daddy's face & $20 with Mommy!
- Extra Credit - For extra emphasis, have your kids count their money when they are redeeming it. Kirsten is learning how to count money in school, so having her count her Cash from time to time is reinforcing what she is learning in the classroom. And while David is a few years from learning money at school, it never hurts to give him a head start!
(Dad's Bucks... haha.. get it?)
(Mom's Money)If you want to teach your kids about saving money or even if you are simply looking for a fun activity for your kids, I hope you'll find this website helpful! Share your thoughts on Kids Cash - or if you have other fun activities you have used to help teach your children the value of money - I want to hear about it on the comment board!
