Engage your students in activities and lessons that teach them practical money skills, and take part in the many events and activities that put a spotlight on financial literacy and financial education.

Where to Find Free, Unbiased Financial Literacy Lesson Plans

If you’re looking to integrate an interactive lesson plan or unit on financial literacy, here are some free, unbiased sources that we like:

• The High School Financial Planning Program is an excellent source for K-12 financial literacy content aligned with national academic standards.
• The Council for Economic Education offers the comprehensive Financial Fitness for Life® program to help K-12 students gain a better understanding of economic concepts.
• The National Education Association has extensive lesson plans for K-16, plus teacher preparedness resources to supplement your curriculum.
• The U.S. Mint website offers lots of fun, engaging activities for K-12, including the game “Change Mixer,” which challenges students to skip, slide, gallop, run, and jump as they add coin values.
• The U.S. Treasury offers up a dynamic four-lesson curriculum for middle school students, “Money Math: Lessons for Life.”
• CashCourse, from the National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE), is a complete postsecondary curriculum that also includes articles and self-guided tools for secondary students.
• Junior Achievement’s JA Personal Finance® curriculum for high school students focuses on spending money wisely through budgeting, saving and investing, using credit cautiously, and protecting personal finances.

Resources and Events

• Money as You Grow: Help for parents and caregivers, developed by the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), is a wonderful resource to share with parents. It includes tips and activities to help parents or caregivers encourage children’s money skills, habits, and attitudes. The CFPB also provides school librarians with Money as You Grow bookshelf and outreach materials
• Money Smart Week is an ongoing public awareness campaign that brings together community groups, financial institutions, government agencies, educational organizations, and financial experts to help consumers learn to better manage their personal finances.
• The U.S. Treasury’s Financial Literacy and Education Commission is kicking off its Unlock Your Financial Future campaign with activities, tips, and tools for making better choices about finances.
• Teach Children to Save is a national program sponsored by the American Banking Association (ABA) Foundation that organizes banker volunteers throughout the year to help young people develop savings habits early in life. The ABA Foundation offers tips to help parents talk to their kids about money, a framework to start a financial literacy program in your community, and more.
• Need a refresher on how to best manage your personal finances? Brush up on your skills by taking the NEFE Smart About Money courses geared to adults.

Financial Literacy Month Hashtags

• #FLM
• #FinancialLiteracyMonth
• #FinLitMonth
• #FinancialEducation
• #dollarsense
• #afinlitfuture
• #MySavingsStory

Learn More

If you’d like to learn more about Financial Literacy Month, Jump$tart Coalition is a great place to start. As the original promoter of Financial Literacy Month, their site offers an abundance of resources and event listings.

Have a free financial literacy resource you’d like to share? Let us know!