Coin Jars, CoinStar, and Our Toddler

As parents we hope that by the time our daughter leaves the house she has a healthy view of money. She’s a toddler now, so we want to keep it fun and help her as she learns the fundamentals of math. Piggy banks are a big part part of that right now.

Counting Pennies in the Piggy Bank

My husband and I grew up with coin jars and piggy banks. I remember going on walks with my grandma and searching for coins on the ground. We either competed to see who could find the most combined our found change to grab some candy (back when it was cheap, lol).

For our baby daughter we have two little banks in her room – one was a gift from a dear friend and the other is my old piggy bank that my mom saved all these years. They are cute and our little girl enjoys ‘feeding’ her piggy some coins every now and again.

Having piggy banks gives us a chance to have some fun with money and learn about numbers. She loves to count coins (not too concerned with explaining the differences between a nickel and a quarter – that’ll come later) as she put them in.

When the banks fill up we take the money out and deposit it into her savings account. Basically it’s where we keep her gift money from family and friends for future use. Hopefully as she gets older we can help her find ways to stash her cash and grow it faster. For now, though, it’s tucked away and slowly accumulating with each contribution.

Thoughts on Kids and Money

I’d love to hear from you guys about how you introduce money with your kids. How many of you have coin jars at home? When did you start? Growing up, what things do you remember your parents teaching you about money?