Online Games
There are many resources and games available for teaching children about different aspects of managing money, investing, and philanthropy. Keep the “fun factor” in mind when teaching children about these important concepts. Below are 21 age-appropriate online games that help make learning money management and investment concepts fun.
3-5 year olds
This online game teaches basic addition and subtraction with money. Applicable to kids in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Australia and United Kingdom.
Practice counting pennies with this online counting game. Great for Pre-K-2.
Online money counting game.
6-9 year olds
Test your business skills and see if you can be your own boss in this online money game.
Help Ed save money in this online game.
Using British currency find out what is the best savings when buying groceries in this online game.
Save up your money on this online game and see if you have enough in the end to buy your prized item.
Learn about expenses associated with a road trip.
Super-hero themed lessons, activities, comics, and theater on four topic areas: basics, earning, growing it, and investing
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Webkinz World is a bright, colorful place filled with cute animals, simple video games, chat areas, shopping malls and more. Some kids may enjoy chatting with each other and shopping for clothes for their virtual Webkinz. Others may play games to earn money to add to the houses where their Webkinz live. Kids actually enjoy working towards financial and educational goals on the site and will spend as many hours as you allow exploring and playing.
10 years old and up
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This game from Visa Inc., in partnership with the National Football League, is modeled after a traditional football videogame. Players choose an NFL team and advance down the field by answering questions on financial topics such as budgeting and insurance deductibles.
The site and apps are free and were created purely for educational purposes. There are three versions of the game. One is geared toward 11- to 13-year-olds and teaches basic concepts such as budgeting and interest. Another is aimed at 14- to 18-year-olds and zeroes in on more complicated topics, such as annual percentage rates and certificates of deposit. The most advanced version, for college-age students and above, focuses on even more challenging financial topics, such as 401(k)s and adjustable-rate mortgages. The harder the question, the more yards a player gets. A wrong answer results in either an incomplete pass, loss of yards or even a turnover.
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Developed for middle school and high school students, this online game gives your students the chance to learn important personal finance skills as they play and compete against fellow classmates. The Gen i Revolution consists of 15 interactive missions in which students complete a variety of activities to help them learn important personal finance concepts. Within each mission, students are introduced to a character who is facing a particular financial crisis. As a part of the Gen i Revolution, the student learns about the crisis, strategically selects “Operatives”, and then completes activities with the ultimate goal of solving the mission.
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This Facebook application tries to motivate teens to set financial goals–such as buying a laptop–and save for them. Designed mainly for teens who use prepaid debit cards, the app allows users to track recent purchases, check their balances and earn cash rewards by taking finance quizzes, among other things, says Eric Eastman, chief executive of Seattle-based Bobber Interactive, which owns GoalCard. Those rewards can be combined with the teen’s own money to purchase products from Amazon.com.
Every day, users see a progress bar detailing how close they are to making a major purchase. This encourages teens to get “off the ‘buy now pay later’ mentality of credit,” Mr. Eastman says.
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This website is designed by kids for kids. It examines stocks, bonds, mutual funds and the like. It teaches the principles of saving and investing. It also includes a stock game.
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JA Banks in Action™ is an online bank simulation game that teaches high school students the principles of banking and introduces them to the challenges of successfully operating a bank in a competitive environment. A truly international program, JA Banks in Action educates young people around the world about the banking industry, while encouraging them to become better citizens and smarter consumers.
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Sense and Dollars was designed to give kids in middle and high school a leg up on acquiring that knowledge. Here, they can practice many effective ways of earning, spending, saving, and investing money in a safe interactive environment. They can explore budgets, credit cards and interest rates – among lots of other concepts surrounding economics and personal finance – using the best educational resources on the Internet. Then, they can apply that background to engage in some real-life money problems young people face now and in the future – planning for a dream prom, handling a family checkbook for a month, and seeing how credit cards can impact the actual price you pay for items. In these activities, they will balance needs and wants with the reality of income, and make informed choices as a result. And they’ll get a chance to use important mathematics skills as well.
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The SIFMA Foundation’s Stock Market Game™ gives students the chance to invest a hypothetical $100,000 in an online portfolio. They think they’re playing a game. You know they’re learning economic and financial concepts they’ll use for the rest of their lives.
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Online stock market simulator where kids can trade stocks in real time with their virtual portfolio.
This online resource provides kids, teens, parents and teachers with access to interactive financial games, puzzles and quizzes. The financial insights and techniques are scaled to accommodate all age groups, thus making it the perfect instructional tool for parents and teachers.
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Wall Street Survivor is a fantasy market simulator where children learn about fundamental investing concepts from how to build a portfolio to value investing.