Do your high school students ever feel like they're throwing their money out the window because they don't know how to manage their finances?

Toddler throwing stacks of money out an open window.

Help them learn how to save and grow their money with a wide range of financial literacy games!

Financial Literacy Resources

Brittney Spears speaking with the words

Money plays a huge role in our daily lives — and like Britney, we like it...and wish we had as much as she does!

Yet, even many adults don't know how to manage what they have or make it grow. So it's a priority to give youth the tools to be financially healthy.

Fortunately, there are free resources on budgeting, saving and investing, credit, borrowing, and more financial topics. Financial literacy games and other activities can help your students plan for college tuition, understand stocks, save to buy a car, or set long-term financial goals.

Explore content, simulations, games, lesson plans, and teacher guides below.

More Than Just a Game

Computer screen typying out

Financial literacy games aren't just for fun! They provide students with opportunities to learn and grow as they:

  • succeed on a team or as an individual

  • make mistakes in a safe space

  • learn from what their peers are doing

  • demonstrate skills they don't get to show in other learning settings

  • get rapid feedback from other students, teachers, or electronic systems

But be mindful of how you use them.

Green Check Mark

DO:

  • Make real-life learning the objective

    • e.g. "What happens if you max out your credit card?"

  • Make the games low stakes

    • e.g. teams develop a product or service and make "Shark Tank" presentations so everyone can contribute ideas and play different roles

  • Consider a mix of problem solving, strategy, and knowledge development games to increase money management skills

Red X

DON'T:

  • Make winning the objective

    • e.g. "The student with the most money at the end wins!"

  • Make anyone feel like a "loser"

    • e.g. students face a scenario with only one solution to help the family pay their bills, and if the student doesn't figure it out, they fail

  • Stick to one type of game because some students may not have strengths in those areas (e.g. public speaking or leading a team), or some students may lose interest

Game On!

team mates in a huddle, chanting and rocking back and forth

Use games to engage students and help them learn new financial literacy information and skills.

Students respond to both low-tech and high-tech games.

Some might like playing with cards to learn investment concepts, and others might get immersed in playing the role of a parent managing family finances in a computer simulation.

Try using:

card and game pieces

  • Board games

  • Card games

  • Puzzles

computer with game displaid on it Photo by KOBU Agency on Unsplash

  • Online games

  • Computer games

  • Simulations

Low-Tech/High-Tech Financial Literacy Games

People playing a game with human-sized cards.

Low-Tech Games

Lesson plans and materials are included in the links below for these hands-on financial literacy games:

Saving and Investing Card Game

Teams are given scenarios to decide whether it's better to save or invest their money.

Banking Basics Card Game

Teams are given cards with the names of financial services and products, and cards with the descriptions and the goal is to match them.

Credit Card Debit Game

Students are given credit card scenarios and they're instructed to move to different parts of the room labeled "Do" or "Don't" based on how they advise the characters.

Insurance Matching Game

The class is divided in half with one team getting "Risk" cards and the other "Insurance" cards. Students walk around the room to find their match.

People playing  a computer game on a laptop

Scenario-Based Online Games

See below for links to free financial literacy games your students can play on their devices:

Payback

Students think through how to apply to college and make decisions to avoid debt.

Spent

Students are faced with real-life challenges and low-income wages, and must use critical thinking to make the money last.

Money Magic

Students must make budgeting decisions for a magician who is launching a new show, weighing short- and long-term gratification.

The Uber Game

Students play the role of an Uber driver who needs to make $1,000 for a mortgage and raising kids.

Quiz

Which activities can help your students learn to budget money? Select all that apply:

Take Action

Michelle Obama doing the

Bring financial literacy games and other activities to your classroom!

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