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As I was thinking about what to write for Real Life Homeschooling this month I realized my kids have been obsessed with money recently. Obsessed may be a little extreme for a word, but they have certainly had it on their minds, so I’m here to talk to you about a fun bit of gameschooling.
They’ve realized they can get more toys if they get more money. So, they’ve been doing jobs of various sorts. And slowly but surely they’re becoming quite proficient at making change and counting money.
As I was shopping the back to school sales I found a new game to pick up. The Allowance Game {affiliate link} for half price (SCORE!). It’s a fun and quick to play game (about 30 minutes with 4 players), and the kids got to work on their money skills while trying to save their way up to $20.
What I liked about the Allowance Game
- It uses money that looks like real money, not silly money
- If you lose all your money you get to start over with the starting amount (I did that several times in the game due to bad rolls)
- You make change constantly. Both to trade out for bills or different coin amounts, and subtracting as you have to spend money. (Can I say secretly learning how to make change?)
- It’s not as tedious or as long as Monopoly, and has the added benefit of teaching coins.
What I wish the Allowance Game had
- More of the money. With 4 players, you just barely have enough of the coins and paper money to play the game. If I lost any of pieces, we’d be up a creek. Towards the end of the game, the bank was running dangerously low on coins.
- I wish there was pennies in the game. Making change with pennies can often be the hardest step because of the math involved, but it is important.
- I loved that Bank It! (link to review) included giving to charity, I wish The Allowance Game {affiliate link} did as well.
Overall everyone enjoyed playing the game, including Princess, who I think ended up winning it the first time around. Of course, it just fueled their quest to earn more money, which is good news for me, because that means more chores done by kids.
The Real Life Homeschooling Blog Hop co-hosts are:
Tabitha from Meet Penny Aurie from Our Good Life Amy from Are We There Yet? Sonya from Becoming a Strong Woman of God Heather from Homeschooling on Faith and Coffee Leann from Hands on Homeschooler Sherri from Our Front Porch Looking In Erin from Royal Baloo Renee from Next Gen Homeschool Megan from Homeschooling etc. Stephanie from Bowmania Ticia from Adventures in Mommydom Karyn from Teach Beside Me Jamie from Walking in High Cotton Selena from Look! We’re Learning! Rebecca from Homeschooling Autism and More Andrea from No Doubt Learning Stacey from Layered Soul Lisa from Farm Fresh Adventures Tiffany from Life & Lessons From a Country Road Rachel from Rooms of Knowledge Marla from Marla’s Motherhood Musings Dusty from To the Moon and Back Kelli from Adventurez in Child ‘Rearing
Comments
6 responses to “Real Life Homeschooling: Allowance Game and making money”
I need to get my kids learning about money. I will have to think about purchasing Bank It (including a charity component is very important to me).
I was thinking of getting Allowance Game as a birthday gift for a certain something, but would you say that Bank It is better? I would also love to see a charity component!
Hmmmm….. They’ve both got strengths and weaknesses.
Bank It has different requirements for winning- purchasing 4 different types of items, charity, and a certain amount saved. I like that because it has you planning ahead somewhat so you can achieve all of the purchases in the best manner, and give to charity.
BUT, the coins are not like real coins, they’re plastic in the same denomination, but it just says the money amount and are orange. That really bothers me for a game teaching money.
Allowance, doesn’t have as much planning in it. It’s luck of the dice for landing places and earning or spending money. So, you can get ahead or fall back just because of a poor roll. That aspect really appeals to a lot of kids.
My FAVORITE part of Allowance is the use of coins that look real, and the constant making change, because almost EVERY square has you receiving or spending money. So you are using the money more often.
So, I can’t quite make a clear call for either one. Neither one to my mind is the perfect money game, they both have things going for them.
What fun!! Sammy is obsessed with earning money so this would be a great way for him to learn how to make change!
It really is, between this and Saxon Math (which has at least one money problem a day), my kids are getting very good at counting money.
I am going to have to look for this game, it is going on our birthday or Christmas list for sure.
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