The following resources go with short online lessons, for families of middle schoolers about financial topics. Each lesson contains activities families can do together, “Managing your Money” guides from OSU Extension, and conversation starters. View the online lessons and resources in Spanish.
Module 1: Spending
Games/Activities about Spending
Free Guides Related to Spending
Conversation Starters for Families about Spending
- How do you prioritize the things you want to spend money on?
- How is spending money affecting your happiness? What about saving money?
- If you made a plan for your spending, what would it include?
- Have you compared prices when going shopping? Did you find a good deal?
- What is your most important financial goal?
Module 2: Banking
Games/Activities about Banking
Free Guide Related to Banking Activities
Conversation Starters for Families about Banking
- Where is our nearest bank branch? What do you think they do in that bank branch?
- Where is our nearest ATM? How do you think ATMs work?
- Do any of your friends have debit cards?
- How would you use a debit card if you had one?
- Where would you pay with a debit card?
Module 3: Saving and Investing
Games/Activities about Saving and Investing
Free Guide Related to Saving and Investing
Conversation Starters for Families about Saving and Investing
- How much money do you have in your savings? How did you save that money?
- From your last pocket money or money gifts, how much did you put into savings? Was it more or less than 10 percent? Where did you put the savings?
- What are your savings goals? When do you plan to achieve your #1 goal? Are you on track?
- Let’s pretend you have a wealthy grandma who, on your birth, bought you 100 shares of company stocks. Which companies’ stocks would you like to have? Can you list 5 companies that you buy things from often?
Module 4: Credit and Debt
Games/Activities about Credit and Debt
Free Guide Related to Credit and Debt
Conversation Starters for Families about Credit and Debt
- If you need money and don’t have enough yourself, whom would you ask?
- You talked about wanting to buy [insert desired item], but don’t have enough cash or savings. Would you be willing to borrow money for it?
- You can borrow money at a bank but the bank doesn’t give you the money for free. How much would you be willing to pay a bank for, say, borrowing $100? What would be the total costs, including the borrowed amount and the fee for borrowing?
- How much time would you need to pay the borrowed money back?
- Do you know how a credit card works?
Module 5: Financial Decision-Making
Games/Activities about Financial Decision-Making
Free Guide Related to Financial Decision-Making
Conversation Starters for Families about Financial Decision-making
- Think about the last few months. Which money-related decision have been difficult?
- Can you remember a situation when you spent money and were unhappy about it later? Why were you unhappy? What would you do differently?
- How do your friends spend their money? Does their spending influence yours?
- Have you tried to compare the prices at different stores?
You might also like our resources about having conversations about career interests with your middle schooler:
