A while back we started a star rewards system and our children love it! Each age appropriate child receives a star for morning chores, a star for evening chores, and a star for anything that goes above and beyond. I currently keep tabs on a chalkboard where I can easily add stars as I see fit and then start over the following week. So far, and this has been consistently ongoing for about nine months, this system is working great!
Each star is worth five cents. We keep a roll of nickels on top of the chalk board and the children collect at the end of each day. Up until now it was all going in a large glass jar, one for each child. So I decided a little while back to make them a share, save and spend bank. This idea is widely popular and supported by Dave Ramsey. It is not money smart for me to buy these and so I came up with this eco-friendly way and used a shoe box.
Share, Save and Spend Bank
Tools: 12 inch paper trimmer, scissors, tape runner or a glue stick, card stock, markers, stickers, glitter paint, etc…
I measured and cut my card stock to correlate with the shoe box. This will vary on the size of your box. This box was pink underneath, and my son Asher was not down with a pink bank! After dividing the top of my box into thirds I used the end of a large pair of scissors to create the slots.
For the inside of the box, I measured and cut card stock to span the center in two parts. This left me with three equal compartments. Then I took two additional pieces of card stock and attached them to both the bottom of the shoe box as well as the card stock dividers. Please see the photo below.
Inside the shoebox.
Then you can let your child decorate to their heart’s content. My son Asher wrote his name with a marker on one side and used stickers on the other. After doodling for just a moment he looked at me very seriously and said, “Mom, we really shouldn’t color on banks.” So, thus the bare bank! Happy Banking!
For lots more fun with kids and banking visit: http://kids.daveramsey.com/
Danielle Kyle
