Dispelling the ‘magic money machine’ myth

“If you could get inside the heads of toddlers or young children today, their original understanding of money might be as the prize in a kind of game involving ATMs. Whenever you find a machine, you put your magic card in the slot, punch in a few numbers and voila! Money pops out. Quite innocently, parents are totally messing with their kids by exposing them to this ‘game’ without providing any context.”

That’s a quote from financial guru, author, and television personality: Suze Orman.

Reading it, I thought: “Ok, guilty as charged.” My husband and I have never really attempted to discuss money concepts, or dispel the “magic money machine” assumption with our kids – mostly because we thought they were too young to really understand.

But according to Ms. Orman, it’s never too early to start teaching kids the fundamentals of how earning, spending and saving works. So, like I always do when tackling tricky subjects with the kids, I looked for guidance in the form of a children’s book.

Here are some helpful, but not too heavy-handed picture books about earning and saving money.

“Pig-Pig Gets A Job,” by David McPhail (Dutton)

When Pig Pig spies some tempting merchandise in a store window, he says to his mother, “‘I want some money. I want to buy something.’" Then Pig Pig’s mother explains, “‘If you want some money, you must do something to earn it.’” In other words, Pig Pig has to get a job.

Pig Pig thinks up all sorts of fun, but unrealistic jobs he might do, such as being an auto mechanic, a house-builder and a circus trainer. Then Mother-Pig tries to subtly steer him towards a better plan.

“‘I have a great idea!’” he says at last. “‘You could give me a job!’” and together, they come up with more age-appropriate jobs, such as fixing lunch and building a birdhouse.

For a gentle early lesson about earning and saving for something special, “Pig Pig Gets A Job,” gets the job done.

“The Berenstain Bears, Trouble With Money,” and “The Berenstain Bears, Dollars and Sense,” by Stan and Jan Berenstain (Random House)

I almost instinctively look to the Berenstain Bears when it comes to “issues” books, and not surprisingly, there are two good ones about kids (cubs) and money.

The gist of both of books is: Brother and Sister Bear have a great deal to learn about earning and saving money. In the first, the cubs are spending everything they get, and not saving, so Mama and Papa Bear set out to teach them the importance of putting some away for a rainy day. In the second, the cubs continually ask for money to buy things they want, without an understanding that “’money doesn’t grow on trees!’” as Papa exclaims. So, Mama Bear shows the cubs the basics of saving and spending by giving them a checkbook to illustrate how a checking account works.

Though Ms. Orman might criticize Mama Bear for not explaining how the money gets into the checking account to begin with, all in all, both books give practical lessons about saving money, in a straightforward way kids can understand.