Curriculum › Grades K-2 › Life Skills & Career Paths

Saving Up for Something You Want

  • Grades K-2
  • Life Skills & Career Paths
  • JS:SS-K2
  • Money & Banking
  • Free lesson

Aligned to JS:SS-K2 — Jump$tart National Standards in K-12 Personal Finance Education & Advance CTE Career Clusters.

What this lesson teaches

Saving means keeping money instead of spending it right away, so that later you can buy something bigger. It takes waiting, and waiting is the hard part. A jar or an envelope where the money stays put makes saving much easier.

Worked examples

Example 1

You want a $6 book and you get $2 a week. Put the $2 in a jar each week; after three weeks you have $6 and you can buy it.

Example 2

If you spend $1 of your $2 on candy each week, it takes six weeks instead of three. Every small spend pushes the goal further away.

Example 3

Draw a picture of what you are saving for and tape it to the jar. Seeing the goal makes it easier to leave the money alone.

Practice questions

  1. Name something you would save for and guess how many weeks it would take.
  2. Why is it hard to save? Name one thing that makes it easier.
  3. If you save $3 a week, how much do you have after 4 weeks?

Watch the lesson

Every lesson comes with a video taught in English and Spanish — the same video the QR code in the printed workbook opens.

▶ Watch this lesson

En español

Ahorrar para algo que quieres

Ahorrar significa guardar dinero en vez de gastarlo de inmediato, para después poder comprar algo más grande. Requiere esperar, y esperar es la parte difícil. Un frasco o un sobre donde el dinero se quede quieto hace el ahorro mucho más fácil.

Ejemplo 1: Quieres un libro de $6 y recibes $2 a la semana. Pon los $2 en un frasco cada semana; a las tres semanas tienes $6 y lo puedes comprar.

Ejemplo 2: Si gastas $1 de tus $2 en dulces cada semana, tardas seis semanas en vez de tres. Cada gasto pequeño aleja la meta.

Ejemplo 3: Dibuja lo que estás ahorrando y pégalo en el frasco. Ver la meta hace más fácil no tocar el dinero.

More Money & Banking lessons

What Money Is and What Coins Are WorthJS:SS-K

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