Chicago Parent and Money Smart Week Events

CHICAGO PARENT

Is your kid money smart yet?
By Susan Beacham - 4/20/2007

When it comes to raising money smart kids, we parents need all the help we can get. Faced as we are with the overwhelming consumer messages that vie for our kids’ attention and a national culture that yells "spend, spend, spend," it can be tough to get kids to hear our message that they can do more with money than simply spend it.

Once a year, we get that help from a variety of groups—ranging from the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago to local economic education groups. Those groups come together to offer a week’s worth of programs to help make us and our kids money smart.

Money Smart Week—April 30 through May 5 this year—is one of the best and most creative educational opportunities available to help teach kids about money. The programs are taught by economic experts at sites around the city and suburbs. Best of all, many of the events are free.

Among the best free events for kids:

Money Smart Story Time and Craft. This event, sponsored by the Economic Awareness Council, Hinsdale Public Library and Park National Bank, uses storytelling to teach kids ages pre-K through second grade about earning and saving money. Kids will listen to money stories, sing a few money songs and even make their own penny jar. Parents will be provided with a list of tips about how to teach their kids to be money smart. 1-2 p.m. May 5 at the Hinsdale Public Library, 20 E. Maple St., Hinsdale.

Keep It Safe: Money Smart Investigations. This event is sponsored by the Midwest Bank, the Museum of Science and Industry and the Economic Awareness Council, a Chicago-based nonprofit that provides economic and financial education to families and children. An interactive booth for kids ages pre-K through eighth grade will feature lessons about keeping money safe. With identity theft on the rise, it’s never too early to teach kids these skills. Fun activities include using a magnifying glass to get a closer look at the changes that have been made in our American currency. Booths will be open from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. throughout the week inside the Museum of Science and Industry for paying museum-goers. On May 5, the booths move outside to the front lawn—and are free—from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. as part of the Mayor’s Kids and Kites Festival. The Museum of Science and Industry is located at 57th Street and Lake Shore Drive, Chicago.

Exchange City. Exchange City is a terrific concept for teaching kids about business that was unveiled during last year’s Money Smart Week. It will host two kid-focused events, one to teach kids ages 7-12 the basics of personal finance and the other, aimed at 8- to 14-year-olds, will offer more advanced skills.

Exchange City is a concept pioneered by Chicago-based company Experiencia. It offers a 40-hour curriculum to schoolteachers and then allows kids to spend a day running the businesses, media and political operations of the mini city.

The workshop, aimed at 7- to 12-year-olds, will teach kids how to set short- and long-term money goals and teach them they have four choices for every dollar they have: save, spend, donate or invest. Regular readers will recognize that as my mantra. Because LaSalle Bank and I agree on this concept, the bank, a sponsor of this event, will be providing one of my Money Savvy Pig savings banks to each child age 7-12 who attends the workshop. (I invented the bank, which has four slots, not just one, so kids can see how their money choices add up. I came up with the idea after spending several years teaching money skills to elementary school students.) This workshop is scheduled for 6-7:30 p.m. May 3.

The workshop aimed at 8- to 14-year-olds will offer more information about basic personal finance, including teaching kids how to write checks and how to create and keep a budget. This workshop is scheduled for 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. May 2.

A tour of Exchange City and its companion earth sciences education program, EarthWorks, is included in both programs. Both events will be held at Exchange City, 770 N. Halsted St., Chicago. Enter on Chicago Avenue. Free parking is available across the street. Advanced registration is recommended. Call Jannette Rho at (312) 733-5400 to register.

These are but a small sampling of the many quality events that are taking place during Money Smart Week. For more information on the full week’s worth of programs aimed at adults and kids, visit the Money Smart Week Web site calendar at www.chicagofed.org/moneysmart.