Spend, Save, Share Pots

A first hands-on look at what money is and what it is for — the child examines real coins, then divides a small amount between three pots and makes one real choice with it.

  1. Tip a handful of coins onto a tray. Look closely: colour, size, edge, picture, number. Sort them into matching groups and name one or two.
  2. Explain in one sentence what money is for: “People swap money for things they need or want, and people get money by working.”
  3. Label three pots or jars Spend, Save and Share (a drawing on each works as well as a word).
  4. Give the child a small number of coins — five to ten of the same kind is ideal — and let them decide how many go in each pot. There is no wrong answer, but every pot gets at least one.
  5. Follow through for real: the Spend coins buy one small thing the child chooses on the next shop visit; the Save pot is kept for something named in advance; the Share coins go into a charity tin or towards a gift.

Variation: play “need or want?” on the way round the shop — bread? socks? a comic? — or make coin rubbings with paper and a crayon to compare the pictures.

Requirements

  • Space: A table top
  • Surface: Table or tray (a tray stops coins rolling away)
  • Materials: A handful of real coins, three small pots or jars, paper and pen for labels
  • Participants: 1 adult + 1 child
  • Supervision: Moderate — coins are a choking hazard and need an adult present

Rationale & Objective

Money is one of the most abstract ideas in a five-year-old’s world: a small metal disc stands for value, and a bigger coin is not always worth more. Interview research on children’s economic understanding (Berti & Bombi, 1988) describes preschoolers as knowing that money is needed to buy things while having little grasp of value, change or where money comes from. Handling real coins and making a real, limited choice builds the ideas that matter at this age: money is exchanged for goods, it runs out, and choosing one thing means not choosing another. Making a real choice connects to HighScope’s “Decision making” indicator (KDI 55), and the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Money as You Grow guidance for ages 3–5 puts the emphasis on thinking ahead, waiting and saving, and telling needs from wants rather than on arithmetic. Hirsch’s kindergarten sequence includes identifying coins. The Save pot gives gentle practice at waiting for something better, and the Share pot links money to caring for other people.

Progress Indicators

  • Early: treats coins as shiny objects to sort or stack; thinks bigger or more coins always means more money; wants to spend everything at once
  • Developing: knows money is swapped for things in shops; sorts coins by type and names one or two; puts coins in all three pots with prompting; finds waiting for the Save goal hard
  • Proficient: explains that money is earned by working and runs out when spent; divides coins between pots on purpose and says why; makes a choice in the shop within the Spend amount and accepts that the other thing must wait
  • Advanced: sorts everyday items into needs and wants with reasons; saves across several weeks for a named goal; notices that different coins have different worth and asks whether there is “enough”

Safety Notes

  • Coins are a choking hazard — stay at the table, count them back in at the end, and keep them away from younger siblings
  • Coins are dirty; wash hands afterwards and keep them out of mouths
  • Keep amounts small and the tone light; money worries belong to adults, and a child should not pick up anxiety about the family’s finances
  • Do not use the pots as reward or punishment for behaviour — taking saved money away undermines the trust the activity depends on

Hints

  • Playfulness: let the child decorate the three pots, give the Save goal a picture stuck on the jar, and make a ceremony of dropping each coin in with a satisfying clink
  • Sustain interest: repeat with a few coins each week, count the Save pot together, and let the child choose who the Share pot helps
  • Common mistake: overriding the child’s spending choice because it seems a waste. A small regret over a poor buy is the lesson — talk about it kindly afterwards instead
  • Limited space: three envelopes or three sections of an egg box work as pots; if the household rarely uses cash, use buttons as tokens swapped for real coins at the shop
  • Cross-domain: counting and comparing piles of coins (numeracy); coin rubbings (fine motor and art); reading price tags and shop signs (print awareness); talking about who the Share pot helps (empathy)
  • Progression: look at and sort coins → three pots with identical coins → one real purchase within the Spend amount → a named saving goal over several weeks → need-or-want sorting → comparing two prices

Sources

  • Berti, A.E. & Bombi, A.S. (1988), The Child’s Construction of Economics, Cambridge University Press
  • Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — Money as You Grow, early childhood (ages 3–5) guidance for parents
  • Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (2016), “Building Blocks to Help Youth Achieve Financial Capability”
  • HighScope Preschool Curriculum — Key Developmental Indicator 55, Decision making (Social Studies)
  • Hirsch, E.D. Jr. (ed.), What Your Kindergartner Needs to Know — Mathematics (money, identifying coins)
  • Whitebread, D. & Bingham, S. (2013), “Habit Formation and Learning in Young Children,” Money Advice Service