Financial Literacy Meeting Ideas Daisy Financial Literacy Games and Activities Fulfills Money Counts steps 1, 2, 3: Money Money You need: Place Value Boards (one for each girl), bags of copied money (one for each girl), Daisy Catalog pages, Daisy Program book pages Pass out the Place Value Board (place value side up) one per girl. Pass out the bags of copied money, one to each girl. Ask the girls not to take the money out of the bag yet. Ask the girls, How many of you have an allowance? You may have to explain what an allowance is. Ask the girls, What do you spend your allowance on? Have the girls look at their Place Value Board. Ask them to read what the first column says. ($10.00). Point to the next column and have the girls shout out what that says, and so on to the last column. Have the girls open their bag and pull out a nickel. Ask the girls, What is a nickel worth? Five cents. Have the girls open their bag and remove a penny. Ask the girls, What is a penny worth? One cent. Tell the girls to pull from their bag enough pennies to equal a nickel and place it on their value board. Now have them put their money back in the bag. Challenge them to do different amounts, like: $1.32, $1.06, $50.10. Be sure to include dollar amounts where there are no dimes, or no dollars. Have the girls suggest amounts to try. Pass out the catalog s. Ask each girl to pick something they would like to buy for themselves. How much does it cost? Set the amount of the item out on your Place Value Board. Have them pick an item they would give as a gift. How much does that cost? Pass out the Program Books. Ask the girls to pick activities that they think sound like fun. How much does it cost? Set the amount of money the program costs on the Place Value Board. Follow up: What are some things you like to do? Do they cost money or are they free? Paying the Price You need: play money and change for each girl, place value card for each girl, and small items with cost on them Hold up the first prop, a lollipop that costs $0.05. Ask the girls to put $0.05 on their boards. Don t give them any other directions. See what they come up with most will either put five pennies or one nickel out. Some will put both. Point out how there are two ways to make five cents. If the girls only have one, have them try to make another. Hold up the rest of the items, one at a time. Have the girls make their boards up to reflect as many ways as possible to make the cost of the item. Dollar Digit
You need: Dimes and Pennies Game board (one copy per girl), Pencils (one per girl), bag of copied pennies and dimes (one per group), two normal dice (two dice per group) Organize your group into smaller groups of 2-4 girls each. Pass out copies of the Dimes and Pennies Game boards to every girl and a bag of the pennies and dimes to every group. Each group also gets two dice and every girl gets a pencil. Explain the rules: 1. Each player takes a turn rolling the dice. 2. Each player chooses if she wants to match the number on the dice with pennies or with dimes. For example, the first player rolls a one and a five. That makes six, right? How many pennies is that? (six) Can you use a dime? (No) 3. After the player puts her money on the coin board, she passes the dice to the next player. 4. Everyone rolls seven turns. 5. Your goal is to get as close to $1.00. How many pennies are in $1.00? (100) How many dimes? (10) 6. After seven rolls, count how much you have on your coin board and see what the rest of your group has. 7. Who has the most? Who has the least? Who is closest to $1.00? GORP Play this game as a group for Daisies, since it can be a little confusing! Double check your allergies and substitute as needed. The original game calls for banana chips, apricots, raisins and walnuts. If you have girls with tree nut allergies, pull walnuts and put in cranberries (check the processing label of all the food you buy to make sure there are no references to tree nuts or peanuts). If you have girls allergic to sulfites, pull the apricots. Other suggestions are sunflower seeds, chocolate chips or M&Ms. Edit your game sheets to reflect your ingredients and copy for each girl. You will need: Inflatable Dice (three), bags of pennies and dimes, and the coin board again to help the girls with the final cost analysis. Read the description to the girls: A camping store makes trail mix from these ingredients (list your ingredients). We have 10 ounces of each ingredient, which is why it says 10 on your sheet. Each bag of trail mix has three ingredients. We will take turns throwing the giant dice to figure out how many ounces of each ingredient go in the bags. We are going to try not to have any leftovers, though the camping store has to sell all their ingredients to make money! Choose three girls. Give each a die. Assign each girl an ingredient. Ask the rest of the girls to do a drumroll on their tables or desks before the girls throw their die. Have the girls throw their die and read their number. Have all the girls write on their sheet the numbers. Ask the girls to write down the number on the line next to the roll number. Then ask them to subtract the rolled number from the 10 they started with. You may need to demonstrate with your fingers. For example, a girl assigned Walnuts rolls a 6. 10 minus 6 is 4. We have 4 ounces left of walnuts. Choose three more girls and repeat, making sure you do the subtraction out loud with the girls every time. After three rounds, ask the girls how many of each ingredient they have left. Let s pretend we run the camping store and for every leftover ounce of ingredient we lose $0.05. For every bag of trail mix we sell, we earn $3.00. How many bags of trail mix did we sell? How many leftover ounces do we have? Use the coin board to figure out how much money we lose and how much money we make. Put five cents for every ounce in the pennies column. How many cents did we lose total? How many dollars did we make? (You made three bags so thee bags at three dollars each is 3 plus 3 plus 3). Subtract the cents we lost from the money we made. This will require a little help from you nine minus whatever your total loss is you may need to prompt them.
Line up your edible ingredients. Put two spoons in each ingredient. Give each girl a bag and let her add however many spoonfuls of each ingredient into her bag for a snack. Fulfills Money Manager steps 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Brownie Financial Literacy Games and Activities If you are doing these activities with Brownies and intend for them to earn the Money Manager badge, you will need a copy of the Girls Guide that contains the Brownie Elf doll. The Elf shopping items are fun to use, but the Brownie Catalog pages are fine to use if you don t have the books.
Money Money You need: Place Value Boards (one for each girl), bags of copied money (one for each girl), Girl Scout Catalog pages, Brownie Program book pages Pass out the Place Value Board (place value side up) one per girl. Pass out the bags of copied money, one to each girl. Ask the girls not to take the money out of the bag yet. Ask the girls, How many of you have an allowance? You may have to explain what an allowance is. Ask the girls, What do you spend your allowance on? Have the girls look at their Place Value Board. Ask them to read what the first column says. ($10.00). Point to the next column and have the girls shout out what that says, and so on to the last column. Have the girls open their bag and pull out a nickel. Ask the girls, What is a nickel worth? Five cents. Have the girls open their bag and remove a penny. Ask the girls, What is a penny worth? One cent. Tell the girls to pull from their bag enough pennies to equal a nickel and place it on their value board. Now have them put their money back in the bag. Challenge them to do different amounts, like: $1.32, $1.06, $50.10. Be sure to include dollar amounts where there are no dimes, or no dollars. Have the girls suggest amounts to try. Pass out the catalog pages. Ask each girl to pick something they would like to buy for their Brownie Elf. How much does it cost? Set the amount of the item out on your Place Value Board. Have them pick an item they would give as a gift. How much does that cost? Pass out the Program Book pages. Ask the girls to pick activities that they think sound like fun. How much does it cost? Set the amount of money the program costs on the Place Value Board. Follow up: What are some things you like to do? Do they cost money or are they free? Paying the Price You need: Place Value Boards (flipped over to Coin board; one for each girl), bags of copied money (one for each girl), Bag of priced items Hold up the first prop, a lollipop that costs $0.05. Ask the girls to put $0.05 on their boards. Don t give them any other directions. See what they come up with most will either put five pennies or one nickel out. Some will put both. Point out how there are two ways to make five cents. If the girls only have one, have them try to make another. Hold up the rest of the items, one at a time. Have the girls make their boards up to reflect as many ways as possible to make the cost of the item. Double Digit You need: one die for each pair of girls, scoresheet copies one for each person, pencil Pass out the score sheets and pair up the girls. This game works best in two partners, so if there is an uneven amount, you may need to participate. Demonstrate the game while you are explaining the rules. Each person takes a turn rolling the die. The number on the die can be written in the tens column or the ones column. When you put a number in the tens column, put a 0 in the ones column.
After each player rolls the die 7 times, add up your numbers. The player who is closest to 100 without going over is the winner. To get some extra practice in with math, try having the girls add their totals every time they roll. Dollar Digit You need: Dimes and Pennies Game board (one copy per girl), Pencils (one per girl), bag of copied pennies and dimes (one per group), two normal dice (two dice per group) Organize your group into smaller groups of 2-4 girls each. Pass out copies of the Dimes and Pennies Game boards to every girl and a bag of the pennies and dimes to every group. Each group also gets two dice and every girl gets a pencil. Explain the rules: 1. Each player takes a turn rolling the dice. 2. Each player chooses if she wants to match the number on the dice with pennies or with dimes. For example, the first player rolls a one and a five. That makes six, right? How many pennies is that? (six) Can you use a dime? (No) 3. After the player puts her money on the coin board, she passes the dice to the next player. 4. Everyone rolls seven turns. 5. Your goal is to get as close to $1.00. How many pennies are in $1.00? (100) How many dimes? (10) 6. After seven rolls, count how much you have on your coin board and see what the rest of your group has. 7. Who has the most? Who has the least? Who is closest to $1.00? GORP Play this game as a group for Brownies, since it can be a little confusing! Double check your allergies and substitute as needed. The original game calls for banana chips, apricots, raisins and walnuts. If you have girls with tree nut allergies, pull walnuts and put in cranberries (check the processing label of all the food you buy to make sure there are no references to tree nuts or peanuts). If you have girls allergic to sulfites, pull the apricots. Other suggestions are sunflower seeds, chocolate chips or M&Ms. Edit your game sheets to reflect your ingredients and copy for each girl. You will need: Inflatable Dice (three), bags of pennies and dimes, and the coin board again to help the girls with the final cost analysis. Read the description to the girls: A camping store makes trail mix from these ingredients (list your ingredients). We have 10 ounces of each ingredient, which is why it says 10 on your sheet. Each bag of trail mix has three ingredients. We will take turns throwing the giant dice to figure out how many ounces of each ingredient go in the bags. We are going to try not to have any leftovers, though the camping store has to sell all their ingredients to make money! Choose three girls. Give each a die. Assign each girl an ingredient. Ask the rest of the girls to do a drumroll on their tables or desks before the girls throw their die. Have the girls throw their die and read their number. Have all the girls write on their sheet the numbers. Ask the girls to write down the number on the line next to the roll number. Then ask them to subtract the rolled number from the 10 they started with. You may need to demonstrate with your fingers. For example, a girl assigned Walnuts rolls a 6. 10 minus 6 is 4. We have 4 ounces left of walnuts. Choose three more girls and repeat, making sure you do the subtraction out loud with the girls every time. After three rounds, ask the girls how many of each ingredient they have left.
Let s pretend we run the camping store and for every leftover ounce of ingredient we lose $0.05. For every bag of trail mix we sell, we earn $3.00. How many bags of trail mix did we sell? How many leftover ounces do we have? Use the coin board to figure out how much money we lose and how much money we make. Put five cents for every ounce in the pennies column. How many cents did we lose total? How many dollars did we make? (You made three bags so thee bags at three dollars each is 3 plus 3 plus 3). Subtract the cents we lost from the money we made. This will require a little help from you nine minus whatever your total loss is you may need to prompt them. Line up your edible ingredients. Put two spoons in each ingredient. Give each girl a bag and let her add however many spoonfuls of each ingredient into her bag for a snack. Nimble Calculator See if the Brownies can identify the patterns to winning this game that also familiarizes them with using the addition and subtraction with the calculator. Pair the girls and give each a calculator. You can do any of these games in any order or you can tell the kids all the rules for all the games (or hand out the games sheet) and let them play whatever they want. First Game: 7UP: Clear the calculator so it says zero. Taking turns, each player adds 1 or 2 into the calculator. The winner is the first person to reach 7. Going over 7 loses. Second Game: 11 Down: Clear the calculator and enter 11. Subtract 1 or 2 on each turn. Winner is the person who reaches zero. Third Game: Now You re 21: Clear the calculator so it reads zero. Add 1, 2, 3, or 4 on each turn. The person who reaches 21 wins. Fourth Game: Travel Down 101: Enter 101 on the calculator. Each person in turn subtracts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9 from the number in the display. Make the display read 0 and you win. Fifth Game: Century: Start at 0 and add 1-9 on each turn until 100 is reached. This game has a twist! Sixth Game: Enter 2001 in the calculator. Subtract 1-99 on each turn. The person to reach 0 wins. Fulfills Savvy Shopper steps 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Junior Financial Literacy Games and Activities To complete this Junior badge, you need to have at least one session where you are discussing needs versus wants. Bring a stack of catalogs and magazines (check to make sure there is appropriate content in them before you bring them), scissors, paper and tape. If you are in a room with a chalkboard or whiteboard, you can write the answers on the board. If you are in a room without, take some sheets of paper and markers and write the groups answers on the paper. Then use painter s tape or ask girls to hold the pages up when you discuss. Needs and Wants
Get the girls in groups of 2-4. Give them scissors and paper and tape. Pass out magazines, newspaper ads, and catalogs to each group. Tell the girls to page through the ads and find things they want and things they need. Give them about 10-15 minutes to page through and cut out pictures. After 10 minutes, ask the girls to organize their photos into needs and wants. Some will be a little of both and that s ok. Have the girls tape their photos in a progression of needs to wants. Lead the girls in a discussion about what are the top three most popular or trendy items. Make a list of everyone s ideas, then have the group vote on the top three. Ask the girls if they think they are influenced by trends do they inspire you to buy or ask for certain items? Now, lead the girls in a discussion about their best and worst purchases. How did you feel when you used the product or put on the clothes or tried the makeup at home? Were you happy or disappointed? What do the girls consider a major purchase? As a group, make a list of tips for making major purchases what should you look for? If time, bring up budgeting how long does it take you to save money for a major purchase. Double Digit You need: one die for each pair of girls, scoresheet copies one for each person, pencil Pass out the score sheets and pair up the girls. This game works best in two partners, so if there is an uneven amount, you may need to participate. Demonstrate the game while you are explaining the rules. Each person takes a turn rolling the die. The number on the die can be written in the tens column or the ones column. When you put a number in the tens column, put a 0 in the ones column. After each player rolls the die 7 times, add up your numbers. The player who is closest to 100 without going over is the winner. To get some extra practice in with math, try having the girls add their totals every time they roll. Dollar Digit You need: Dimes and Pennies Game board (one copy per girl), Pencils (one per girl), bag of copied pennies and dimes (one per group), two normal dice (two dice per group) Organize your group into smaller groups of 2-4 girls each. Pass out copies of the Dimes and Pennies Game boards to every girl and a bag of the pennies and dimes to every group. Each group also gets two dice and every girl gets a pencil. Explain the rules: 1. Each player takes a turn rolling the dice. 2. Each player chooses if she wants to match the number on the dice with pennies or with dimes. For example, the first player rolls a one and a five. That makes six, right? How many pennies is that? (six) Can you use a dime? (No) 3. After the player puts her money on the coin board, she passes the dice to the next player. 4. Everyone rolls seven turns. 5. Your goal is to get as close to $1.00. How many pennies are in $1.00? (100) How many dimes? (10) 6. After seven rolls, count how much you have on your coin board and see what the rest of your group has. 7. Who has the most? Who has the least? Who is closest to $1.00? GORP
Double check your allergies and substitute as needed. The original game calls for banana chips, apricots, raisins and walnuts. If you have girls with tree nut allergies, pull walnuts and put in cranberries (check the processing label of all the food you buy to make sure there are no references to tree nuts or peanuts). If you have girls allergic to sulfites, pull the apricots. Other suggestions are sunflower seeds, chocolate chips or M&Ms. Edit your game sheets to reflect your ingredients and copy for each girl. You will need: 3 Dice, bags of pennies and dimes, and the coin board again to help the girls with the final cost analysis. Read the description to the girls: A camping store makes trail mix from these ingredients (list your ingredients). We have 10 ounces of each ingredient, which is why it says 10 on your sheet. Each bag of trail mix has three ingredients. We will take turns throwing the giant dice to figure out how many ounces of each ingredient go in the bags. We are going to try not to have any leftovers, though the camping store has to sell all their ingredients to make money! Choose three girls. Give each a die. Assign each girl an ingredient. Ask the rest of the girls to do a drumroll on their tables or desks before the girls throw their die. Have the girls throw their die and read their number. Have all the girls write on their sheet the numbers. Ask the girls to write down the number on the line next to the roll number. Then ask them to subtract the rolled number from the 10 they started with. You may need to demonstrate with your fingers. For example, a girl assigned Walnuts rolls a 6. 10 minus 6 is 4. We have 4 ounces left of walnuts. Choose three more girls and repeat, making sure you do the subtraction out loud with the girls every time. After three rounds, ask the girls how many of each ingredient they have left. Let s pretend we run the camping store and for every leftover ounce of ingredient we lose $0.05. For every bag of trail mix we sell, we earn $3.00. How many bags of trail mix did we sell? How many leftover ounces do we have? Use the coin board to figure out how much money we lose and how much money we make. Put five cents for every ounce in the pennies column. How many cents did we lose total? How many dollars did we make? (You made three bags so thee bags at three dollars each is 3 plus 3 plus 3). Subtract the cents we lost from the money we made. This will require a little help from you nine minus whatever your total loss is you may need to prompt them. Line up your edible ingredients. Put two spoons in each ingredient. Give each girl a bag and let her add however many spoonfuls of each ingredient into her bag for a snack. Nimble Calculator See if the Juniors can identify the patterns to winning this game that also familiarizes them with using the addition and subtraction with the calculator. Pair the girls and give each a calculator. You can do any of these games in any order or you can tell the kids all the rules for all the games (or hand out the games sheet) and let them play whatever they want. First Game: 7UP: Clear the calculator so it says zero. Taking turns, each player adds 1 or 2 into the calculator. The winner is the first person to reach 7. Going over 7 loses. Second Game: 11 Down: Clear the calculator and enter 11. Subtract 1 or 2 on each turn. Winner is the person who reaches zero.
Third Game: Now You re 21: Clear the calculator so it reads zero. Add 1, 2, 3, or 4 on each turn. The person who reaches 21 wins. Fourth Game: Travel Down 101: Enter 101 on the calculator. Each person in turn subtracts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9 from the number in the display. Make the display read 0 and you win. Fifth Game: Century: Start at 0 and add 1-9 on each turn until 100 is reached. This game has a twist! Sixth Game: Enter 2001 in the calculator. Subtract 1-99 on each turn. The person to reach 0 wins. Calculators and Shopping You will need: newspaper ads, catalogs, calculators and paper and pencils Use the newspaper ads. Have the girls scan the ads and look for items on sale. (For example, if an item is 20% off, how much does that make the item? If the ad just says the sale price, see if the girls can estimate the original price.) Have the girls find items in the ads that are multiple discounts, like 2 for $5. How much does that make one item? Cookies and Programs You will need: program books, pencils and paper per group, calculators Pass out the program books. Have the girls break into groups of 2-4 and page through the books. You may have to explain to them if they are not Girl Scouts what age level they are considered (Juniors are 4-5 th grade). Have each group plan an outing with their team. What costs have to be considered? (transportation, lunch, program fees, badges if not included (use $2 for badges if they ask), souvenirs if available). What is the total cost? What does that break down to per girl? For another step, tell them that their group has sold 200 boxes of cookies and that earned their team $0.75 per box. How much did you team earn? How can you use that money to decrease the total amount of the outing and how does that break down to cost per girl? How many more boxes do they need to sell so that the cost per girl is $0.00?