Investment Games for Kids

Beyond the piggy bank: Teach your children smart financial habits.

With parents losing jobs, investments and even houses during the Great Recession, it's more important than ever to teach kids financial responsibility. Whether you want to teach your kids wise spending habits, are interested in teaching them about the stock market or you want to teach them how to be entrepreneurial, there's a financial game or educational site out there for you.

Mr. Big Shot -- Stock Trading Financial Game

For parents who want to raise stock-savvy kids, Mr. Big Shot provides multiple ways to teach kids the ins and outs of high finance. In both the software version and a board game, players receive $100,000 to purchase stocks (cherry-picked from the actual market spanning the past 35 years) in an effort to be the first player to earn $1 million. With real data gathered from real companies, players learn to evaluate stocks, track their progress and decide when to buy or sell.

PayJr.com by Visa

Featured by Family Circle, ABC News.com, Newsweek, Today and The Wall Street Journal, Visa's PayJr.com offers parents practical online tools to help teach their kids the value of a dollar. For kids 12 years of age and younger, the free online program lets kids track their chores and money earned while providing them with helpful financial advice. For kids 13 and older, parents can get them a pre-paid, reloadable cash card that links to a program to budget and track spending. The ability to design their own card and shop online will excite the teens, while parents can set their own cash limits to teach credit management.

YoungBiz.com

For kids who envision investing in their own businesses rather than the stocks of someone else's business, youngbiz.com offers entrepreneurial blogs, online tools and a store of curriculum workbooks designed to train kids to think like owners. The company also offers summer camp programs, educational tools, teacher training and consulting services to provide a full-service experience.

PBSkids.org: It's My Life

The PBS folks in charge of It's My Life have created a number of games that teach honesty and responsibility in a variety of common circumstances. On the money front, two games teach kids about saving their dollars and investing in a long-term business venture. Kids can experiment with Be Your Own Boss and Mad Money to see whether they can make the right financial decisions with a little virtual money.

PBSKids.org: Don't Buy It!

Also from PBS Kids, Don't Buy It! teaches kids all about the tricks advertisers use to entice them to buy expensive products they don't need. With games such as Be the Ad Detective and Is the Price Right?, this site has everything a kid needs to make smart purchase investments with their money.

References

• Market Watch: Kids and Money
• Kiplinger: Play Money
• Kiplinger: The Last Word on Kids and Cash

Resources

• Kids.gov: Financial Education Resources Grades K-5
• Kids.gov: Financial Education Resources Grades 6-8
• Mr. Bigshot