If you have a child with unique learning needs – or work with a student with diverse needs – you might be wondering what kinds of tools are out there to help you teach them about budgeting.
Truth be told, budgeting is a concept that is a challenging one for even most adults to grasp. It’s not only impractical, but imprudent, to expect a child with unique learning needs to understand budgeting right away.
Therefore, it’s essential that you make the most of this experience by teaching your child with fun online tools.
Here are some of the best online tools to help with budgeting for students with unique learning needs – regardless of their age, ability, or background.
Best Games to Teach About Budgeting
Peter Pig’s Money Counter
Key Features:
- 3 interactive games and fun facts
- Various levels of difficulty available
- Bonus for completing all three games in less than 5 minutes
Great For:
- Kids aged 5-8
- Students who love a challenge
Not Great For:
- Older kids
- Those who want to learn about non-US currencies
- Kids who do not like being timed
Available On:
- Android
- iOS
This is a fun game that will help kids from around 5-10 years old learn more about budgeting. They will not only be able to identify, count, and save their money (learning facts about currency along the way), but they will also be able to make a trip to a virtual store to buy accessories and clothing for Peter Pig.
Financial Entertainment
Key Features:
- Library of financial games for kids of all ages
- Home to games like Celebrity Calamity, FarmBlitz, and Con ‘Em If You Can
Great For:
- Parents looking for a holistic resource with multiple games available
- Teachers seeking classroom activities to teach a variety of financial literacy skills
Not Great For:
- Kids who are easily overwhelmed with multiple options
- Younger children
Available On:
- Desktop
- Android (select games only)
Not a fan of any of the games we’ll tell you about in this article? No problem. Financial Entertainment is a digital library of free mobile and other digital games, designed and created by Commonwealth. This library only includes games that are meant to improve your child’s financial literacy and it has a wealth of resources for you and your kid to explore.
Wise Pockets
Key Features:
- Teaches about earning, spending, saving, borrowing, and lending
- Website set up like a classic storybook with tales about each financial situation
Great For:
- Kids who like social stories
- Quick classroom lessons about finances
Not Great For:
- Older kids
- Kids who need more interactivity
Available On:
Wise Pockets is another fun game that will help you teach your kids about managing money. It’s great for younger children, ideally those around 5-10 years of age.
Financial Football
Key Features:
- Available on multiple operating systems
- Offered by Visa & NFL to teach core financial concepts
- Includes new 3D graphics and games with blitzes, audibles, and plays
Great For:
- Kids who love sports
- Teenagers
Not Great For:
- Young children
- Kids with poor age-level reading skills
Available On:
Another great app for older kids (younger kids may be able to use this one, too) is Financial Football. A fast-paced, highly interactive game, it tasks kids with answering personal finance questions to score points – and if your child isn’t a fan of football, don’t worry. There’s a soccer version, too.
Stock Market Game
Key Features:
- Stock market mobile app lets kids interact with team portfoliOS and learn about the stock market
Great For:
- Older students and those with more advanced processing skills
- Visual, hands-on learners
Not Great For:
- Kids with significant learning challenges or poor reading skills
Available On:
If you’ve been working on some stock market or investing in education with your teen or child, you may want to give this fun game a try. The Stock Market Game is best for older kids but can help provide them with fundamental training in investing along with some practical, real-world skills in mathematics.
Savings Spree
Key Features:
- Winner of Parent’s Choice award
- Subscription fee of $5.99
- Includes games and other fun resources to help kids learn about finances
Great For:
- Kids aged 4+
- Hands-on learners
Not Great For:
- Parents looking for a free resource
Available On:
Savings Spree is a game that teaches about savings and purchases through play. It can help show your teen how even small savings, when made consistently, can become quite substantial over time. It focuses on risk and reward but does so in a fun, relevant, and easy to understand way.
Best Budgeting Apps
PiggyBot
Key Features:
- Parent-designed app that will help kids learn how to share, spend, and save
- Separate accounts allow kids to figure out how to allocate their allowances
Great For:
- Young children
- Visual learners
- Kids who like lots of graphics and minimal text
Not Great For:
- Older kids – might be too juvenile
Available On:
-
- iOS
PiggyBot is best for younger children, but could easily be a great option for older kids, too. This learning app will help your child set financial goals, assign chores, and learn more about smart savings.
Plan’it Prom
Key Features:
- App designed by Visa to help plan and budget for prom
- Free for users
- Customizable
Great For:
- English and French speakers
- Hands-on learners
- Visual learners
- Improving executive functioning and planning skills
Not Great For:
- Young kids or those not interested in the prom
Available On:
- iOS
- Android
This app is pretty specific, but if you have a teen that’s interested in attending prom one day, it’s a fun one to get them involved in. Plan It Prom will help your child budget for every prom-related expense in a fun, interactive way.
Hands-On Banking
Key Features:
- Financial education program that is developed by Wells Fargo
- Lessons, activities, assessments for educators to work with kids of all ages
- Includes resources for budgeting, goal setting, savings, checking, etc.
Great For:
- Kids with hearing or visual impairments (modifications available)
- All grade levels
- ESL students
- Teachers or other classroom providers
Not Great For:
- Independent work or use
Available On:
If you work with any learners with unique needs that also speak another language or have ESL-related needs, you’ll love this app called Hands on Banking. It has elementary school modules as well as those for older students and teaches kids how they can best use money, save in a responsible way, and work with banking services.
Toshl Finance
Key Features:
- Lets you keep track of all financial accounts in one place
- Makes it possible to set goals, plan, and track expenses
Great For:
- Parents, teens, and adults
- Self-guided learners
Not Great For:
- Young kids
- Teens who haven’t taken over control of their own finances quite yet
Available On:
As an adult, you’re likely familiar with the act of balancing a checkbook. However, in the digital age, that might not be the most relevant way to handle your finances anymore. Toshl Finance is a unique app that helps young adults set their own monthly budgets, track expenses, and keep track of other financial must-dos.
iAllowance
Key Features:
- Great app for parents and kids to keep track of chores, allowances, and payments
- Print and email reports available
- Supports 150+ world currencies
- Can be used with an unlimited number of banks and kids
Great For:
- Households with multiple families
- ESL kids
- Younger and older kids
Not Great For:
- Easily overwhelmed kids – crowded user interface
Available On:
iAllowance is a fun money-tracking app that is geared toward more mature teens (ideally those working toward a goal of financial independence). The app creates a platform that can be shared with a parent or guardian so that they, in conjunction with the teen, can work toward eventual financial goals.
BusyKid
Key Features:
- Chore app that lets ids save, spend, share, earn, and invest their allowances
- No subscription fee but there are paid features available for purchase
Great For:
- Kids with limited financial knowledge
- Parents who want to track allowances
Not Great For:
- Younger children
- Kids who would rather not use a smartphone app (not an option for desktop browsing)
Available On:
Another great app for kids ages 5 to 16 is a fun app, particularly for young kids who don’t mind an app with the name “kid” in it. This app will teach your child how to save, earn, spend, and even invest, making it a great program for all-around financial literacy. With this app, you can assign chores and other tasks to your child.
You’ll both get an account, and you can set up an automatic payday each Friday, just like your child would have in the real world. You will just have to verify on the app that the chores have been completed. You can even program the app to provide your child with bonuses for extra chores that they complete. The app does come with some user fees, so just keep that in mind.
FamZoo
Key Features:
- Tracks chores and allowances
- Helps get spending and budgeting under control
Great For:
- Parents, kids, and teens
- Busy students with a lot to manage
Not Great For:
- Kids without cell phone access
- Very young children
- Kids with limited mathematical skills
Available On:
FamZoo is a personal finance app that is perfect for kids who are very young (even at the preschool level) all the way up to college. It can also be used by parents. Lots of parents use this app as a high-tech allowance system. You schedule chores for your child to do. As long as they do those chores, you can release money to their account.
You can even set up prepaid cards for your more mature teens, if you wish. There are some fees to use it – after the free trial, you will pay about $5.99 per month.
EverFi
Key Features:
- Digital lessons, reporting, and assessment solutions for educators
- Free resources for financial education along with health, social-emotional learning, college and career readiness, and more
Great For:
- Teachers and administrators
- Older kids
Not Great For:
- Kids working independently
- Individuals who don’t want to have to sign up for a membership
Available On:
EverFi was designed more with teachers and administrators in mind, but this app and digital platform has more than 100 different lessons, games, and activities that you can use to teach your students about financial literacy. These lessons have serious real-world relevancy and are easy to incorporate either as brief one-day lessons or longer units.
How to Find the Right Online Tools to Help With Budgeting
As with any kind of online tool, it’s essential that you spend some time researching the ones that will be best-suited for your child with unique learning needs. While some of these apps and games are intended for younger children, you may find that your older child responds well to the simpler versions (or vice versa).
Consider the personality and skill level (as well as the current level of financial literacy) of your child before you choose one of these programs. Of course, you should make sure to thoroughly test and play around with the app or game yourself before you introduce it. That way, you’ll be able to explain how it works and clarify any questions.
As with any skill, it’s vital that you start teaching financial literacy early on. Technology can help kids out all the way from elementary school until college – but the sooner you start, the better. Consider giving one (or several!) of these games and apps try to help make the lessons a little more enjoyable for your student with unique learning needs.
Further Reading
- Apps for Autism by Lois Brady
- Check out our entire financial literacy series