I just got back from spending 3 days at a conference that was mostly focused on family and parenting. One theme that seemed to repeat itself was the importance of teaching kids about money and hard work. Unfortunately, today's world is filled with a lot of self-centered and “entitled” children. Kids that think they “deserve” everything that they want without having to do a thing to earn it. And too many parents just hand out money for kids like it grows on trees. Kids have no idea how hard their parents work to earn a living, which results in under-appreciated parents.
One speaker in particular talked about how she never has to nag her kids to unload the dishwasher, because too many of her kids are working towards “earning” a particular toy, or activity. They know that if they really want something, they must earn it. I personally don't feel children should feel entitled to a prize for accomplishing their own personal chores, but I love the idea of rewarding them for going the extra mile and accomplishing things that aren't assigned to them.
I won't get into that too much, but I wanted to make some fun printable money for kids to earn from their parents. You can use this as a reward for good behavior, for chores, as a way to teach “money” or just as an act of love (These make great lunch box surprises)! Just have fun with it. It might even be fun to gradually accumulate things as they are on sale or clearance, and have your own “family store.” My favorite things to use as rewards though, are activities and time spent with family. This might be a movie night or other fun activity, or an extra hour before bedtime, or a date with mom and dad.
When I was sick last week, I had my 9-year old niece over to help me. I was surprised how much fun she had “earning” some fun activities and prizes. I have a closet where I store fun things that I get super good deals on, and I let her earn some of them by doing “extra” helpful things. On her last day with us, she saw me designing this fake money for kids and she started jumping up and down. “Will you PLEASE send these over to my mom?! I want to earn some!” Haha, so here they are, from our family treasury to yours:
Printable Money For Kids
If you want them to last longer, you could laminate them and write with dry-erase. If you don't want to bother printing them, coins are another fun option that would last longer. I found a package of 144 for around $5-6.
What kind of reward system is most motivating for your kids?