CPAs Recommend Money-Minded Toys This Holiday Season
Give Children the Gift of Financial Literacy

DALLAS — If you’d like your children’s toys to last longer than the batteries, the Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants says to consider giving gifts that teach financial concepts this holiday season.

To instill money-mindedness in youth, CPAs recommend giving toys and board games that teach children to use money, make change and accrue savings.

Keeping allowance money safe and secreted away from siblings is an age-old need. Give children a chic twist on the piggy bank with voice-activated or remote control electronic safes available in a variety of popular character embellishments, such as Bratz™ dolls.

Toys that allow children to play “grown up” have always been popular. Now, children can go to their very own ATM machine to make withdrawals and check account balances using a secret Personal Identification Number (PIN). Some products even come with a play debit card and feature a motorized bill feeder and coin recognition. Pretend grocery shopping can even become a money handling how-to lesson thanks to a talking cash register featuring barcode stickers and a scanner, play money and a voice-amplified microphone.

Texas CPAs also recommend looking at popular games like Monopoly® and Life®. These best-selling board games help teach older children about real-world financial concepts like insurance policies, bank loans, income tax, career choices and salaries, and real estate acquisitions. A special bingo game that takes a spin on the traditional letter and number call-out by matching money amounts to pictures of real coins is another money-minded toy option. Such games teach addition and money recognition skills.

CPAs say that whether or not a financially minded toy is under the tree this holiday, the most important financial lesson you can give your children is to practice smart money habits for them to emulate and explain saving, investing, donating, and spending in terms your children can understand.

To access money management information relevant for children and young adults, visit www.ValueYourMoney.org.

ABOUT TSCPA

TSCPA (http://www.tscpa.org) is a nonprofit, voluntary, professional organization representing Texas CPAs. The society has 20 local chapters statewide and has 27,000 members, one of the largest in-state memberships of any state CPA society in the United States. TSCPA is committed to serving the public interest with programs that advance the highest standards of ethics and practice within the CPA profession.