Coin Carnival: A Kids Money Event 💰

✅ Engaging Games: Enjoy a variety of interactive games inspired by financial literacy concepts, including a Price is Right-style game, Jenga trivia, and more. Kids will receive coins after completing each activity for their chance to win 1 of 3 grand prizes! 🎪

✅ Creative Activities: Capture memories at our selfie station, unleash creativity at the coloring station, and tackle word puzzles while learning about money management. 🎨

✅ Prizes and Incentives: Each kiddo will receive a piggy bank* when they walk into the carnival! 🐷 After you complete the activities at the Coin Carnival you'll turn your coins in for a ticket for your chance to win 1 of 3 GRAND PRIZES! Plus, the first 40 families through the door will receive a swag bag! 😄

✅ Expert Assistance: Our friendly Member Experience Advisors will be on hand to help you open a new Youth Account or enroll in Greenlight, ensuring a seamless experience for your family. 💰

✅ Parents and Guardians: Parents and guardians, you have the chance to win too! Stop by our table to learn about Greenlight and sign up. Come say hi to be entered into a drawing to win a make and take gift box from Pasquale's Neighborhood Pizzeria! 🍕

The 3 grand prize winners and Pasquale's Gift Box winner will be selected randomly. Winners will be contacted by First Alliance Credit Union before May 15. Winners must be able to pick up the prize from a First Alliance CU branch. We will not ship the grand prize(s).

*While supplies lasts.

😀 Whether you're a member of First Alliance Credit Union or considering joining, all families in our community are welcome! The activities and games are designed with ages 6-11 in mind. 👍

No parent would ever dream of letting their children grow up not knowing how to read or write. When it comes to financial literacy, though, many children grow up not knowing the basics of money management, let alone how to set financial goals.  

This isn’t because most parents are bad parents. It’s because the parents themselves were never taught financial management skills, and as a result they don’t understand the importance of teaching financial literacy to children. That’s where the following information fits in.

We’ve found that the best way to teach children basic money management strategies is to use the concept of Save, Share, Spend, and Learn. This concept encourages kids to budget the money they get from gifts or allowance. When teaching this concept, we recommend having children put 25% of the money they get into saving and dedicate 5% for sharing, leaving them with 70% they can spend however they want. 

👩‍🏫 Teaching your children the importance of “Save, Spend, Share, and Learn” at a young age can sow the seeds of financial literacy. It can help them understand how to manage money and reach their financial goals.

💰 You can also find a list of resources that will help you keep learning on the First Alliance Credit Union site, including blog posts like: 

• 6 Tips for Teaching Children About Finances
• Things to Consider Before Starting an Allowance for Children
• 5 Ways to Teach Your Children Good Money Moves This Halloween
• How to Teach Your Children About Budgeting

A Few Activities to Complete With Your Children:

1.  Check out our partner content on the Money in MN page of Rochester Local's website

2. Download the SMART Goals Packet from First Alliance Credit Union

3. Download the Financial Fitness Worksheet from First Alliance Credit Union

4. Visit the Rochester Public Library and check out kids books about money topics

The most important financial skill you can teach your child is how to save money. It’s no exaggeration to say that being able to save money can make the difference between your child being burdened with debt or living a financially stable life as an adult. 💵

While there are many ways you can teach children to save money, the best way to get your children in the habit of saving is to help them set a savings goal. For instance, if your child wants an expensive toy, use the price of that toy to give them a goal to save for. Help them figure out how much they’ll need to save, and then show them how long they’ll need to save to meet their goal. 

For instance, if your child wants to buy a $30 Lego set and they get an allowance of $20 a month, you can help your child figure out that by saving 25% of their allowance, they would be saving $5 a month and be able to get their toy in 6 months. You could also show your child that if they were to save 70% of the money they can spend, they would only need to save for two months to get the Lego set.

When you’re teaching your children to save, make sure you give them a safe place to store their money. 💰 You can go with a mason jar, a tried and true piggy bank, or even better open up a savings account at First Alliance Credit Union. They’ll be able to see their money growing when they look at their account using online banking or the First Alliance mobile app, and they’ll also be less tempted to use that money for an impulse purchase. 

Empower Your Children Today by Getting Them Started With a Financial Product Listed Below:

1. Open a youth account at First Alliance Credit Union 💰

2. Make a deposit into your existing youth account at First Alliance Credit Union 💲

3. Enroll your kid(s) in Greenlight the debit card and money app for kids 👍

4. Open a youth certificate of deposit at First Alliance Credit Union 💵

5. Open a youth money market account at First Alliance Credit Union 🐷

6. Open a youth checking account at First Alliance Credit Union 🏧

7. Open a WINcentive account at First Alliance Credit Union 💸

Learning to spend money is by far the easiest of the three skills, not to mention the most fun. However, learning to spend money with care can be a bit more challenging. Children are often impulsive, so they don’t always think about long-term ways to spend their money. 

You can help your children learn to spend with care by teaching them to think about what they want to spend money on before they spend it. 💲 Let them know that wanting things is okay, but that they’ll have to make choices about what they want to buy based on how much money they have. If you have a child who wants to buy five toys but only have enough money for two of them, you can help your child figure out which of the toys are most important to them and which ones they can live without. 

This is also a great opportunity to teach children about needs vs wants. If your child wants to buy ice cream but they also broke their sister’s Barbie doll, they need to be responsible and replace the doll before buying something for themselves. 

Going back to the $20 allowance example from the save section, if a child saves 25% and sets aside 5% to share, they will have 70%, or $14, to spend. Encourage them to think about how they can best spend those $14, and even whether they might want to save part of that $14 for a financial goal. 💰

Remember, it’s up to you as a parent to help your children learn to prioritize their spending so they learn to only spend what they can afford at the moment. In order to help your children learn this lesson, though, you’ll need to resist the urge to give your children more money when they don’t have enough to buy everything they want. Even if your child is only a dollar short, they need to learn the important lesson that no one will give them money for free when they’re adults. 

While you want your children to be financially successful, you also want them to be kind. However, kindness doesn’t just happen. Instead, it needs to be taught and encouraged throughout a child’s life, starting from a young age. 

While you can teach children to share their toys and talk about what kindness is, you can also teach them how to be kind by donating 🕰️ time and money 💵 to causes they care about. Getting your children to set aside 5% of their money to share is a great way to start building a sense of compassion and empathy in children. 

The best way to start talking with your children about sharing is to talk about things that are important to them. Find out if they care about helping 🐾 animals, or if they’re worried about their neighbors going hungry or losing their homes. 🏡

Once you know what your children are passionate about, you can help them find local charities that support those passions. Then, every few months, take the 5% you’ve saved and either donate it directly to their cause or find out what supplies the charity needs most and help your child shop for those items and deliver them to the charity together. 🙌

As an example, if your child is getting a $20 allowance, putting aside 5% of that a month would be $4. After six months, your child will have $24 saved up, which is enough to buy some canned food for a food pantry, a bag of dog food for an animal shelter, or even a nice blanket for a homeless shelter. 😀 This not only helps out worthy charities—but it also lets your children visualize the difference their money can make when they buy something tangible for a charity, which is very empowering. 

If you really want your children to get into the habit of sharing, though, you should model the behavior yourself. Let your kids know what charities you support and why. You can also share stories with your children about other kids in the community who are performing acts of service with your children. 

You should also know that you can still help your children get into the habit of sharing even if they don’t get a regular allowance. You can encourage your children to hold a fundraiser, take a tour of local non-profits or even volunteer your time together at a charity you all agree is important. 

Here Are a Few of Our Favorite Places to Make Donations:

1. Make a donation to First Alliance Credit Union Foundation online or at a First Alliance branch
2. Make a donation to the Jeremiah Program
3. Make a donation to The Boys and Girls Club of Rochester
4. Make a donation to the Family Promise Rochester

 

There will be a few spots available in our parking lot at the 16th St. branch. You can also park next-door at The Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptist Church. Their address is 519 16th St. SE, Rochester, MN.

Check back for more details.