In Spain there is a clear deficit in financial culture that is based on the limited knowledge of economic concepts in school age. After the financial crisis, in which it became clear the ignorance of a large part of the population in what many financial products consist of and their risk have begun to make greater efforts, but, so far, it seems that they are not enough.
The latest PISA report on the education system states that one in six young Spaniards has problems in the most basic uses: from using a credit card or reading an invoice. The OECD has an impact on the same point and asks that training be increased in tasks such as the need to understand the value of money and the world around it.
Several public entities, such as the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) and the Bank of Spain have launched a financial education plan called “Finance for all”, has also introduced the subject of initiation to entrepreneurial and business activity in 4th of ESO, which reaches a few students without training in previous years.
Given this, the work of parents and other reference persons in introducing and teaching concepts that will be key when they grow up is fundamental. It’s not easy, but there are fun ways to get it.
One activity per objective: everything starts with Savings
The fundamental principle is to teach it in a natural way. For this we can build on our day to day and involve the little ones in it. To assimilate the concepts it is necessary to ensure that the child gives the greatest possible interest. We leave you funny ways in which to teach the smallest basic financial concepts:
Interactive piggy banks : Savings are a fundamental point in financial education. Giving a piggy bank is nothing new, but often leaving the money in a piggy bank that can not open or know that you have lost all interest.
Giving away an interactive piggy bank that recounts the coins and bills that you save will encourage you to both learn to save and the importance of setting goals.
Responsible consumption through stories: For a child it is complicated to assimilate that they can not get everything. If through the piggy bank you encourage the effort to get the money to fulfill some of your little desires, you need to know that you can not have everything and that it is important to buy responsibly.
Almost all the consumer organizations of the autonomous communities have free stories in which the role of the child is reinforced as part of society, the care of resources, the environment and solidarity.
Accompany and be an active part of the purchase: A way to posit the responsibility of consumption and rationalize what money means and how complicated it is to accompany us to make the purchase.
You should not give in to their whims, otherwise, force them to choose between different alternatives and at the end of the purchase they know what it costs.
Live what older people do: More and more cities are for children or workshops in which children assume the role of a profession. Besides having fun, they know what the effort is and manage the “salary” they earn to spend as they consider in leisure activities. A way to learn and assimilate how complicated it is for seniors to manage their money and make choices.
Board games: Although the sale of video games continues to grow, table games do not stay on par. In addition to developing many skills, games as simple as Monopoly allow us to introduce them to the importance of not spending everything, have savings, do not buy the first thing you see or know some fundamental concepts in the future such as a mortgage.