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My boys are huge fans of coins, dollars, and even gift cards. They each have little dino wallets for their cash and gift cards, and piggy banks for their coins.

Recently, I took it a step further and opened bank accounts for them, complete with their own debit cards. They were thrilled to have plastic cards with their names on them, though we keep those cards safely stored away rather than in their wallets for obvious reasons.

Their first real interaction with their bank accounts happened when I needed to pay them their allowance but didn’t have any cash on hand. I casually mentioned, “I’ll transfer it into your bank account.” Let’s just say, the concepts of “transfer,” “bank,” and “account” were a bit lost on them. I showed them their accounts on the banking app, pointing out the starting balance we’d gifted them. While they appreciated it, it still wasn’t the same as having money in their dino wallets.

Later, my sister wanted to give them money and asked if they had bank accounts. I explained that while they did, they didn’t fully grasp the concept yet, and I wasn’t keen on them carrying large amounts of cash. I wanted them to understand the importance of saving in their accounts.

So, my sister wrote each of them a check and we made a fun outing of going to the bank to deposit the money. At the bank, my sister withdrew some cash from the ATM. The boys were more fascinated by the cash popping out of the ATM than by depositing the check. It was clear that, at ages 6 and 8, they were more excited about spending and withdrawing money than about the concept of depositing it.

Not one to give up, I decided to try a different approach. I found a ledger book on Amazon that seemed perfect for tracking their income and spending in a way they could understand. I filled in the initial entries to reflect the opening deposit, their allowance, and the money gifts from family, and set up a running balance for them to follow.

Now, that really excited them! While I don’t expect them to keep flipping through the ledger constantly, I do believe they’ve finally grasped the concept of having another source of money at their disposal.

Featured image courtesy of Deposit Photos artist golfmhee. Product images from Amazon product listing linked above.