Activity 1
Money Talks
20 minutes
Start this first activity with introductions. Tell the girls your name and where you work. Put
your name on a name tag. Let each girl introduce herself and put her name on a name tag. Make
sure to collect the name tag backings afterward—the girls may become distracted by them.
Take out the Money Packet.
1) Have the girls sort the money into piles. You start the piles by picking up a coin – a
penny – and tell them what it is and how much it’s worth. Do this for the bills as well.
Then, have them sort the rest of the pile. Jump in if they need help.
2) Once everything is sorted, go over each type of money again, starting with the penny.
Ask what it is and how much it’s worth.
3) Ask the girls – how can you make 30 cents? Have them pull out the coins to do so.
Explain the ways to come up with 30 cents – a quarter and a nickel, three dimes, six
nickels, or 30 pennies.
4) Try this again with 60 cents. Two quarters and a dime, six dimes, 12 nickels, and 60
pennies. You don’t have to count out 60 pennies! The object is to show how many
combinations of coins can be used.
5) Try one with paper bills – ask the girls how to show 5 dollars. One 5 dollar bill or 5 ones.
If they’re advanced, ask someone to come up with 5 dollars in quarters.
6) Ask the girls – if you get money as an allowance or as a gift for your birthday or holiday,
what do you do with it? Where else can you put it? Examples – a savings account, a
piggy bank, give it to mom and dad for safe-keeping, etc.
7) Tell the girls that some people put their money – especially their change, in a piggy bank.
Using the sheet of blank paper in their packet and a pencil, tell the girls they have 5
minutes to draw a piggy bank that would make them save money. It doesn’t have to be a
pig, it can be any color, it can make noise, let them get creative!
8) After 5 minutes, go around the table to see who would like to share their drawing. Ask
them to describe their bank. Why will THIS bank make them save more money?
Activity 2
Wants versus Needs
1) Ask the group: What is a WANT?
What is a NEED?
(Remember to tell them that there is no right or wrong answer!)
Define a want and a need for them
Want – something you would like to have
Need – something necessary for survival
2) Have the girls turn to the first 2 sheets of pictures in their packets. They will have pictures of
DVDs and electricity at the top.
Tell them – there are two pages of items in your workbooks.
Circle the items that are needs.
Go around the table and ask which items each girl circled. Why is this item a need?
3) Next, have the girls put stars next to the items on those two pages that are wants. Let them
know that they can put starts next to the things that are needs too.
Go around the table and ask which items they put stars next to and why.
Then, ask if anyone had a star next to something that was circled. Explain how some things
can be both wants AND needs.
For example – a car can be something you want, instead of taking the bus or train, and
something you need because it gets you to work.
4) Continue this exercise and add in the paper money. Ask the girls about the following 3
items:
A new backpack - $26.39
A candy bar - $.85
A visit to the dentist - $45
For each item, ask the girls –
Is this a want or a need or both?
Tell them the price of the item.
Then, work with them to take the money out to “pay for” each item.
Activity 3
How much will it really cost?
20 minutes
1) Ask the girls to turn to the My Goal Sheet in their packets.
Ask the girls: What if you family decided to buy a pet? What do you think you would get? A
puppy, kitty, or something else?
Have them choose a pet and fill it in on the first line.
2) Ask the girls why they picked the type of pet they did. What were some of the considerations
when choosing this pet? Were they worried about allergies? The level of maintenance the pet
needs? How long it will live?
3) Ask the girls where they would buy their pet. Will they get it from a shelter or a pet store?
Have them circle where they think they will get the pet from.
4) Ask the girls how much the pet they’re interested in costs. Ask them how they could find
that out – check a shelter’s website, call a breeder, call a pet store, ask parents for help, etc.
Look at the Sample Price List in your manual. Go around the room and give each girl a price
for the animal she is planning to buy. Feel free to estimate!
Have each girl fill in the price of their future pet.
5) Ask them what their pet will need after they buy it. Will it need a leash and collar? A cage or
tank? What about food?
6) Choose one girl to share which type of pet she will buy and all of the things that pet will
need. YOU will need to add up the final cost of her pet. Use the Pet page in your manual to
illustrate the costs. Fill in the lines and add up the final cost.
Ask the girls if the final cost is more expensive than they thought.
Choose another girl with a different type of pet and do them same exercise.
7) Ask the girls if they have any ideas how they could raise some money to buy a pet.
Some ideas: bake sale or lemonade stand, car wash, walk or take care of neighborhood pets
(all with parent’s permission/supervision), save birthday money.
Sample Price List
Pet
Puppy (from a shelter)
Puppy (purebred from a pet shop)
Kitten (from a shelter)
Kitten (from a pet shop)
Rabbit
Guinea Pig
Hamster
Small Bird
Large Bird/Parrot
Gold Fish
Other Fish (non-exotic)
Lizard
Snake
Turtle
$200
$800
$100
$400
$ 50
$ 35
$ 15
$ 20
$ 600
$2
$ 5-10
$50
$ 80
$ 40
Pet Items
Bed
Food (cat or dog, annual)
Food (small pet, bird, fish, etc)
Toys
Litter box/litter (annual)
Bird cage
Fish bowl
Reptile tank
$ 15
$ 200
$ 25
$5
$ 50
$ 30
$5
$ 50
Annual Veterinary Bills (Non-Emergency)
Dog, Cat
Rabbit, other small mammal
Bird
Fish
Reptile
$100
$ 50
$ 50
$0
$0
$ My
Goal Sheet $
Our new pet would be a _________________________________.
We could get it from a
PET STORE
Our pet will cost $_______________________________.
SHELTER
Activity 4
Painting
Remaining time
Let the girls paint their piggy banks in the remaining time. Remind them that they can put their
money in there to save for a pet or another important goal.