Piggy bank

Help your kids learn about saving money with this fun piggy bank craft.

Description

Children will create a unique piggy bank to save for something special. Help them learn the value of saving money.

Ages

Six to eight years old

Learning objectives

Children will:

• learn about the value of saving money
• set long-term saving goals

Materials

• Piggy bank template
• Card stock (if available) or paper
• Scissors
• Markers, crayons or coloured pencils
• Glue stick (liquid glue will also work)
• Stickers, pompoms, ribbons or other decorations

Steps

1. Prepare the template

Download and print the template (on card stock if available, one copy per child).

2. Set up all the materials on a table

• Ask your children to cut out the piggy bank.
• Only cut along the dotted lines. The grey lines are for folding.
• Help your children cut out the top hole of the piggy bank because this step can be tricky.

3. Start a discussion

Ask your children to set a saving goal for something they would like to buy.
To remind them of their of their goal, they can write down the amount needed or draw a picture of the item on the piggy bank.

4. Colour the piggy bank

This is much easier to do before you fold it.

5. Build the piggy bank

• Fold the card stock or paper on the grey lines to form your piggy bank.
• Apply glue to the edges marked on the template and stick these parts together.

6. Personalize your piggy bank

Let it dry for a few minutes then decorate it with fun things such as stickers, pompoms or ribbons.

Bonus activities

• Create three piggy banks instead of one, for three different purposes:
• saving
• spending
• giving
• The saving bank helps children save for their goal, the spending bank holds money they can spend more freely and the giving bank helps them set aside part of their money for charitable donations. Talk to your children about ways to divide their money among the piggy banks. For example, they may decide to place:
• 10 to 15 percent in the saving bank,
• 5 to 10 percent in giving, and
• the rest in spending.

It could all depend on how quickly each child wants to save up for their goal or how expensive it is.

• Help children come up with a plan to save for what they want to buy and find ways to earn that money.