There is more than one way of skinning a cat as the saying goes. In South Africa, Wonga are in the forefront of promoting better financial literacy in members of the South African general public, with their “Do you understand debt” article as featured on their website, while in Canada, as part of Canadian Financial Literacy Month initiative, Halloween is being used as the vehicle to help train children in their numeracy skills; a basic and important part of financial literacy. Children are being encouraged to:
Make a Halloween Tart
By learning to follow a recipe, kids can improve their measuring and arithmetic skills. Encourage them to select a recipe, read the instructions out loud, and help with measuring out the ingredients. It’s fun for all the family.
Visit the local pumpkin patch
This can be great fun for the whole family. Get the kids to decide: which is the roundest pumpkin; which is the tallest; and how many small pumpkins go to make up one big pumpkin. For maximum fun, you must of course take a pumpkin home to be carved into a Halloween lantern.
Make a special Halloween costume
You can make great Halloween costumes with materials you’ve got at home. Tell the kids to compile a list of what is needed and then get them to help you with measuring out the fabric. Get them involved as well with the simple basic sewing operation which can exercise their skills in simple arithmetic using addition, subtraction and various times tables.
Carry out a neighbourhood audit of pumpkins, ghosts and witches
Take the kids for a stroll around the local neighbourhood and count the various Halloween items that can be seen on porches, in windows, on lawns and in shop display windows. By making up a chart and predicting the items you will see most of, you can maximise the fun and improve the kids counting and comparison skills.
Sorting out the Halloween candy
Sorting out the Halloween candy is another fun way of getting the kids to practice their counting and shape awareness skills. Encourage the kids to sort out the candy by shape, its size, and maybe even its name. Then they can trade candy with each other. As well as practising simple arithmetic this also teaches basic trading skills.
Building blocks for financial literacy in future generations
The fun tips listed above are an initiative taken by ABC Life Literacy Canada. They are a great example of innovative thinking around the world in terms of improving financial literacy.
Whilst it’s important to improve the financial literacy of adults, improving this awareness in children is a great way of helping to promote numeracy and financial awareness in the young. In this way we are creating good building blocks for financial health and well-being at an early age. These can then can be used in later life thus helping to educate future generations of lenders to enable them to gain a better understanding of financial commitments, and make the best choices and decisions when it comes down to selecting the right loan products and making sure that they can afford then within their budgets.
Article Submitted By Community Writer
