As a mom, and as a finance professional, I feel that it’s essential for parents to instill good financial values in their children, as early as possible. The truth is, it isn’t easy to do, and of course, kids learn from your actions even more than they learn from your words.
I struggle to find products and services to review here that help parents with educating their kids, because there really isn’t a large selection of them available. So, when I heard earlier this year that Disney (with partner T.Rowe Price) was planning The Great Piggy Bank Adventure, a interactive game at Innoventions in Epcot, I was thrilled. Vacations, especially a Disney Vacation, can be family splurges, and the perfect place to instill some financial values.
Last week, I had the opportunity to have lunch with Stuart Ritter, a Certified Financial Planner at T.Rowe Price who served on the team to create this wonderful interactive experience, and talk to him about the game and the planning that was involved in developing it.
The Great Piggy Bank Adventure is geared toward children 8-14, yet it involves some complex financial principles, such as risk vs. reward, inflation, and saving for a goal. However, it’s designed with some child-appropriate metaphors to help kids start to understand. For example, a “big-bad wolf” serves as the symbol for inflation in the game.
Parents can play along with their children, and help explain some of the concepts, while building a foundation that can be expanded upon later. Upon finishing the game, visitors have the option to give their email address and be emailed a link to play the online version of the game (the online version is available for anyone to use).
To play the game, kids have to choose a goal to save for, and then answer questions to advance through the game and earn money. Stuart explained that while some goals are more fanciful (such as a new redecorated bedroom), the most commonly selected goal is college. As players earn more money, they have the option to invest it in low risk, medium risk, and high risk instruments, which are actually backed by real financial returns.
I was so impressed to learn how both T.Rowe Price and Disney came together to create something that’s both educational and fun! While my family hasn’t played the game at Innoventions yet (it was not yet opened when we were there on our family vacation), my moms panelist friends who have played it rave about it! I think it’s a great opportunity to help teach your kids financial values, especially while on vacation! Click here to learn more about the Great Piggy Bank Adventure.
Speaking of money – the JuiceBox widget on my sidebar is all about money this week!! Check out the content, and the sponsor, Mint.com, a great way to keep track of all of your accounts, your spending, and your savings.
If you see a great product review here that you’d like to share with a friend, you can use the eCard option on the widget to send it along to your friend!
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
It is very important to teach kids the value of money. So many of them think it’s just something to spend away without thought. That’s dangerous! Educating them from a young age can be done through a myriad of ways, including tuning their thought patterns via stories.