At a Glance

Children typically pick up nuggets of information as they listen to grown-ups talk about topics such as buying a house or moving to a bigger place. In a child’s innocent mind, buying a bigger home may be as simple as buying a toy. The next time your child asks about buying a house, don’t brush it off. Take the opportunity to teach your child something that will go a long way in his/her adult life.

Here’s a fun activity to help your child learn about big financial commitments - such as buying a house.

Suitable for:

Your 9 - 12 year old

It will take:

30 - 45 minutes

Please prepare:

Printed “Home purchase” activity sheets, calculator, pencil & eraser

The importance of planning for necessities in life – such as a home

Variables that may affect the price of a home

The role of a bank in our lives

Smart spending to get the best value

To make this topic more relatable to your child, you can ask whether he/she would prefer to wake up later for school. Suggest that he/she could, if your home is closer to school.

Activity 1: Talk about location

Use the ”Where to stay?” activity sheet and ask your child to pick a home to buy on the map.

Download “where to stay?” activity sheet here

As he/she considers the available options, you can introduce him/her to the idea of tradeoffs.

Guide him/her to choose the best balance of location and size – and thus the best value.

Activity 2: Learn about loans

Once your child has decided where to buy a home, explain how he/she can buy it in 3 steps.

To help your child understand the value of money, you can use values that are relevant to his/her experience.

He/She would understand better what a loan repayment of $700 means if it’s converted into the number of ice creams or toys it can buy.