Bob has no concept of money. I keep trying to make her understand the value of things and I am hoping that soon she will start to understand.

At the moment if something gets broken or damaged she says, ‘That’s alright, we’ll buy another one.’ I really dislike this attitude and I am working hard to change it!

Here are some financial tips that I am using to help Bob understand the value of money.

1) Compare The Value
Bob doesn’t understand how much things cost nor does she know how much money is worth so I have started comparing values with things that are close to her heart. For example, when she spilt water over my MacBook Pro I told her that it was worth about 8 of her Disney Princess Bikes.

2) Take Responsibility
Bob didn’t seem to be bothered about the water incident so I told her that if the MacBook was broken we would have to sell lots of her toys to raise the money to buy a new one. We would start with her Disney Princess Bike. This seemed to make her understand how serious the situation was. I felt mean saying this but I don’t want Bob growing up with no respect for property and value.

I should also point out that Bob spilt the water after I had moved her cup away from the laptop and warned her of the danger several times. She was being silly whilst skyping her Grandma and I am not sure that the spillage was entirely accidental. Luckily the MacBook was fine and I didn’t have to carry out my threat. It was something that was much easier said than done.

3) Learn How To Earn
I have been guilty of spoiling Bob in the past but now she is getting older I need her to realise that things cost money. I can’t afford to buy her something every time we go into a supermarket. I have started to give Bob the opportunity to earn her own money by helping out around the house. She is not quite at the age where I can ask her to wash the dishes but she can do little easy jobs such as feed Sally. This gives her a chance to earn a bit of spending money and learn that hard work (or not so hard in this case) pays off.

4) Saving Is Fun
I am also trying to teach Bob about saving money. The pennies she gets for helping out aren’t worth much on their own but if she saves them they will be worth more overtime.

Think Money sent us a piggy bank and a hobbycraft voucher as part of their crafty piggy bank competition. This is the perfect thing to help us to save. Bob was very keen to decorate it and couldn’t wait to put some pennies inside it.

D.I.Y.-Craft-Piggy-Bank

We decided to make a pig sty for our piggy bank to live in. I cut an empty cereal box in half and turned it inside out.

Making-A-Pig-Sty

Bob then cut and ripped up lots of different green cardboard and paper and covered the outside of the box to look like grass.

Grass-Collage

We then used ice lolly sticks to make a fence. I have learnt that pegs are fantastic for keeping things in place whilst the glue dries.

Craft-Fence

Bob loved decorating the pig and it was all her own work! She painted it purple,

Paint-A-Pig

…made it sparkly

Sparkle-Pig

…and then covered it in sticky flowers.

Disco-Pig

Flower-Pig

Crafty-Piggy

It looked fab!

Decorate-Your-Own-Piggy-Bank-Craft

She also stuck the left over flowers on the grass.

Pig-Pen

I then lined the inside of the cereal box with cling film and we filled it with soil.

Muddy-Pig

We wondered about planting some seeds in it but, as we wanted it to look pretty straight away, we thought we could do that later. For now, Bob picked a few flowers and pressed them into the soil.

Garden-Pig

We were very impressed with the result!

Craft-Activity-Piggy-Bank-In-Piggy-Sty

Bob loves her piggy bank and she is keen to put money into it. I am hoping that this will encourage her to save her pennies.

This is my entry into the Think Money Crafty Piggy Bank Competition.

 Posted by Charlotte on September 23, 2015 Activities  Add comments

  30 Responses to “A Very Sparkly Piggy Bank”

  1.  

    Teaching children the value of money is a great idea. I was never taught to save and this has had an adverse affect on my life. I am hoping that I have been teaching my children the value of money, but starting young is key I think. Also GREAT LOOKING PIGGY Boo!

  2.  

    Really great tips here. It’s hard to teach children the value of money or how silly accidents do cost us parents money. So I think you’ve gone around the right way. I must remember this when I attempt to teach our little one about monetary value. x

  3.  

    I love this post! My 6 year old has no idea about money either do I’m definitely going to be using your tips. He’s very blase about it all and has a very entitled attitude which I’m going to get rid of. Xx

  4.  

    I love this piggy bank! My daughter is 15 and still thinks money grows on trees.

  5.  

    This is fantastic, firstly, you c an never have too much glitter and secondly it is purple! But I actually think this is a great piece of advice x

  6.  

    What a fabulous looking piggy bank, she must be very proud of it x

  7.  

    Really good tips and the piggy bank looks amazing 🙂 You are obviously a fab mum!

    Claire
    x

  8.  

    I love this – it is such an important life skill for your kids to learn. Well done! 🙂

  9.  

    What an amazing piggy bank – very sparkley! The perfect place to keep money safe!! It looks like Bob had lots of fun making it!

  10.  

    such a great idea to get the kids involved , have fun and also be responsible ! Loved the finished product x

  11.  

    I think this is a great idea very cute piggy bank. I love it and I need to stop spoiling autumn.

  12.  

    That is such a great way of helping to teach kids about the value of money, I have been teaching my daughter for a while now and I think I am slowly getting there! I love the purple pig. I think I want one to help save up for my holiday x

    •  

      My mum didn’t realise that Bob had decorated it at first and she kept saying it was the nicest piggy bank she had ever seen. 🙂 I think she must have known deep down. x

  13.  

    Oh I love the piggy bank! I found that when we opened Jack’s account with Metro bank and they gave him a money box that he has been obsessed with saving ever since!

  14.  

    I love the finished piggy bank! I think it’s great to teach children the value of money from an early age and I’m starting to teach my 3 year old this x

  15.  

    I LOVE that you’s made a pig sty for your piggy bank! What a fab idea. The end result is very good too x

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