Learning to budget and save up to buy larger items are lifelong skills that will help your children's quality of life and hopefully prevent them getting into a debt trap when they are older. This guest post talks about how you can kick off their understanding from a young age...


Teaching your children to be good with money is essential. Kids that learn to save when they are young, generally speaking, grow into adults who spend responsibly.

There are lots of ways to teach them the value of money. For example, you could open a savings account like the one that you can find out about from this website. When your child is old enough, you can let them play a role in managing that account. Later, they can start to add some of the money that they are given, or earn, to the cash you save up for them.

Matr offer enjoyable and affordable home-based online one-to-one tuition with your own tutor for children in Key Stage 2, aged 7-11. They asked if we'd like to review the service and as both of my younger boys are in Key Stage 2, we agreed. Our 2 lessons were free of charge and we have been paid for some of our time, but if you have your own 10 year old you'll know that won't affect what he says in the video! Children can be brutally honest - they make the best reviewers...


Before the review I was sceptical that maths tuition would offer my son very much, but I've completely changed my opinion. He really, really enjoyed his time with the tutor, he's so much more confident in what he is currently working on in school and he learnt so much more on top of that. He's had a massive boost and we only did two sessions!

Back in the old days, before plastic and huge toy companies filled our toy boxes, children had to make their own toys at home. Here's one we can all make which can also help us understand colours...


EQUIPMENT:
Large cardboard pieces - cereal box or pizza box is great. If you have no card then stiff paper works too.
A small plate - the cardboard must be at least as big as the plate.
Scissors
Pencil
Colouring pens or pencils
Ruler or a straight edge
A small book
A teaspoon with a plain handle
Sticky tack

Cavemen probably played with miniature catapults as children, the technology is incredibly old. They are very simple to make and this is one of the simplest. It is a great way to use energy and motion to create different types of energy and motion. Mechanics, powered by your finger...



EQUIPMENT:
Small collectible toys, rubber are best*. The type that come in blind bags and don't cost more than 50p each - then your mum won't be mad you won't be sad if you do temporarily lose any (don't use your favourites).
Dessert or soup spoon
Plastic water bottle, half full of water with the lid on tightly or cardboard tubes (kitchen roll or crisp tubes).
Sticky tape
Plastic bowls or similar for targets

*Small objects to fling - if you don't have any small collectible toys or yours are too precious to risk losing, you can use tightly crunched up paper. There are other rules:
a. Your objects cannot be metal or glass, or feel heavy or hard like metal or glass - e.g. dice.
b. Your objects cannot have sharp edges, points or corners.
c. Never aim towards animals or people, and watch out for your cat/baby brother getting into the way.
d. Your objects must not be bigger than the spoon, if they overlap the edges, they're too big.

Here's something for the engineers of the future to get their teeth into. You can make a hole in more than one way, and if you do it carefully, you can even walk through a hole in a postcard...

This activity is quite hard because it requires concentration and careful cutting. Younger scientists may need older assistance, and there is always sticky tape!


EQUIPMENT:
A postcard sized piece of thin cardboard. A postcard is perfect, cereal box is great.
Scissors
A light coloured, thin felt tip or a pencil or wax crayon
A thick marker or felt tip in a dark colour.