If you’ve been meaning to teach your kids the importance of money without having to resort to the age-old tactic of talking it out one-on-one, then opt for the easy and practical way out – via the use of technology! From managing a savings account to teaching how to budget, apps and services abound in enabling a good financial training to anyone wanting to start young.
More than being practical, these apps and services are interactive and provide enough stimulation for your kids to easily integrate the lessons they learn in real life. Some of the best-rated apps and sites we’ve discovered are as follows:
Savings Spree
Savings Spree is a valuable app when it comes to ingraining kids the right financial choices to make. Despite not being free, this app has won duly won numerous accolades as an Editor’s Choice Award and also as the Parent’s Choice Gold Award from Children’s Technology Review. Highly rated and recommended, Savings Spree aptly teaches kids not just how to put their money to good use but to draw up viable short-term plans for their finances.
GoalCard
GoalCard is a Facebook app that allows teens alike to establish financial goals, like buying a cellphone, and then aids them in tracking their savings progress. The app’s design is mainly aimed at teens that are already using prepaid debit cards. Along with the aforementioned features, the app also lets its users check their balances, monitor their latest purchases and obtain monetary rewards by answering a number of financially related quizzes.
iAllowance
As kids, allowances and chores are just two things that kids should be able to learn to manage. In order to ingrain the importance concept of responsibility, what better way to help them along the way but through a fun app that allows them to manage both! More than these two, however, iAllowance also integrates a rewards section wherein parents can dispense gifts as they see fit. With the advent of technological age, it’s time to put traditional coin banks behind and let your kids start learning the real ropes of finances.
Rich Kid, Smart Kid
Utilizing a cartoon-themed site to the whole premise of teaching finances, this service will surely be a hit with any kid. As part of the site’s cartoon motif, kids can essentially play various kinds of games in order to learn financial lessons. Basically, Rich Kid, Smart Kid’s concept is a fun and clever way of getting kids to learn without having to resort to boring, idle text lessons.
P2K Money
P2K Money is a great way for kids to track not just their allowances but their expenses as well. In addition, they can also create a wish list to keep track of any stuff they want to buy in the future, which also serves the purpose of letting their parents know what they want for any upcoming occasion. Alternatively, the site also has a grownup section for anyone looking for additional helpful resources on finance.
Stock Market Simulator Plus
We here believe that it’s never too young to start investing and by way of this, we present to you the ultra helpful Stock Market Simulator Plus available in Google Play. Duly informative, this app is an outstanding way to start honing a kid’s investing skills through a genuine replication of the US stock market. The app lets it’s users start with $50,000 that they can invest as they see fit.
Count My Beanz
Count My Beanz is great way to reward your kids every time they are able to successfully carry out a task you’ve listed for them. Through this kind of measure, Count My Beanz advocates responsible financial management by encouraging kids to earn and work for their money. Using “Beanz” as its virtual currency, kids can then translate their online rewards for actual prizes from their parents.
What other apps and tools do you use? Leave a comment below and let us know!
Image Credit – Digital Sextant on Flickr
7 Apps And Services To Teach Kids About Money
