young children

Little Planners: Using Calendars with Young Children

Have you ever heard a young child say something like “Remember yesterday when I was a little baby?” or “Remember when we went to Grandma’s house the day before today?” when it was really months ago. Or if you tell a child you are going to the pool in two days, and 10 minutes later, they ask if it’s time to go yet. Time is a difficult concept for young children to understand. It isn’t until kids are at least five that they begin understanding days, months, years, or even hours.

One way to help young children understand the concept of time is using a calendar. Young children in school are probably doing some sort of calendar time in their class, and you can help reinforce the concepts by using one at home.

Using a calendar is great in many ways. Kids thrive on routine and knowing what comes next. In the summer, schedules often change and can be hard to predict. Making a visual calendar, using pictures, icons, or images, as well as words to help kids understand and anticipate what is coming up, and also help with that sense of time as it relates to days or weeks. This summer, for my daughter, I made a visual calendar one month at a time with icons to represent what was going on for different days during the month. This was especially helpful when we were having our family vacation-she could see the car icon to indicate the day we were driving, a beach icon to indicate the days we were going to be at the beach, boat icon for when we were going on the boat, and then the car when we were driving home.

Using a calendar can also help develop some early math and literacy skills. Crossing off days can help with counting down, seeing the number on the calendar can help with understanding that days in the month are numbered, and can help with number recognition. Having days of the week listed, with the month at the top, and having a short description along with the picture can help those emerging readers recognize everyday words, such as pool, swimming, grandma’s house, and play date, to strengthen early literacy skills.

Decide what is best for your child. It may be best to have one week at a time, a month at a time, or several months at a time. Decide what level of detail you want to include. Too many items may make kids feel overwhelmed or may leave them feeling unprepared for everything that is coming up. You may decide to put things on that are major or that have been planned in advance. Choose where it will be located. Will it be on the family fridge or in a child’s room? If you have multiple children, consider making separate calendars so each child can have their own, especially if they have different events or activities going on.

Recognize that things happen and plans can change. If you have a child that struggles with changes, especially last minute changes, giving as much time to prepare for the change may be helpful. It may also be helpful to include your child in choosing a new date or making the change on their calendar. Having a conversation about disappointment, flexibility, and change may also be helpful for some older kiddos.

Overall, having a calendar in your home, no matter what it looks like, can have many benefits for young children and can help children be more prepared for things to come.

Written by: Katie Schlagheck, Ohio State University Extension, Family and Consumer Sciences, Ottawa & Sandusky Counties

Reviewed by Emma Horstman, Ohio State University Extension, Family and Consumer Sciences, Paulding County

Helping Kids Count Their Pennies

Kids are never too young to learn about money and finances. While preschool age kids (3–5-year-olds) are too young to understand concrete financial concepts, you can still set the foundation for financial literacy at this young age. One concept that young children can start to understand is that you need money to buy things and that you can earn money by working. Another concept is that sometimes we want things that cost more money than we have, so we need to save up to buy them. Around the theme of planning is that sometimes we need to plan ahead to have what we need. And a great one for around the holidays is that we have things that we want and that we need, and sometimes we must make choices about what we want and what we need.

Child with piggy bank

When it comes to talking about money, keep it simple. Short simple explanations or examples will help children start to grasp these concepts. Having conversations around these financial literacy themes as they come up in daily life will help young children start to understand these concepts. For example, when grocery shopping or buying something at the store, have a conversation about something you are buying that your family needs and something that your family might want. When my husband and I leave our house in the morning, we explain to our young children that we are going to work to earn money, a concept that they are beginning to understand. Having these ongoing real-world discussions and sharing examples in daily life can help bring these concepts to life.

Books with themes around money can also make an impact. The Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB) has a list of books that share themes around money like making decisions, spending, earning, sharing, borrowing, prioritizing, and setting goals. Many of these books also have guides that parents, grandparents, teachers or caregivers can use while reading the book to help encourage children to think about these money themes and spark discussion. Books like “A Bargain for Frances,” “Just Shopping with Mom,” and “How Much is That Doggie in the Window?” all have guides available for free to help in discussion. The CFPB also has other resources to facilitate talking about financial concepts to children of many ages.

Other activities can also help in understanding financial concepts. Activities like adding money to a piggy bank can help in conversation about earning and saving money. Role playing games like playing restaurant or ice cream shop can spark different roles and give life to concepts on buying and paying for food and services. There are also online games and apps around financial literacy for young children as well. One of my favorites for young children is Peter Pig’s Money Counter and many from U.S. Mint.

Talking about money and financial literacy topics at a young age can help children in the future with their decision making and critical thinking skills and can set them on a strong financial literacy foundation.

Written by: Katie Schlagheck, Family and Consumer Sciences Educator, OSU Extension, Ottawa & Sandusky Counties

Reviewed by: Jenny Lobb, Family and Consumer Sciences Educator, OSU Extension, Franklin County