How Coupons Help Teach Our Children

 It’s a rare individual who isn’t interested in the monetary savings to be realized from the regular use of coupons especially in this economy, but have you ever thought about another way  coupons can be  useful?  How about teaching children with coupons?  Teach basic math skills and valuable life lessons while having some fun family moments gathered around the kitchen table and clipping coupons. The kids won’t even know they are doing “homework.” It’s never too early to start goal setting with the pre-school set and continue practical life lessons through the teen years. Learning to budget and save money is one of the best lessons any parent can teach their children.

  1. With very young children, use the Sunday papers and teach little ones how to recognize colors.
  2.  Show and find on the calendar expiration dates. Count how much time there is to use the coupons. Make it a simple lesson in time management.
  3. Improve memory skills when searching through newspapers for coupons and then finding that item in the store.
  4. Let the children give the cashier the money and coupons and learn about transacting business.
  5. As they get older and into school, “speak math” and make math fun. Have children figure out the value of money and how much a coupon saves. Explain percentages and practice multiplication skills on double or triple coupon days. Point out dollars off and use subtraction skills to figure out savings.
  6. Teach organizational skills by categorizing coupons and using the store set up as the guide. Let the child  organize the coupons for the next shopping trip according to the  aisles where the items are found.
  7. Online skills can be enhanced using Google or Yahoo searching for coupon blogs. Have the child choose an item and search the web for the coupon blogs  with the largest discounts.
  8. Practice measurements, quantities and weight to demonstrate savings using different sizes.
  9. Do some goal setting and let the kids plan some of the family meals using coupon savings and discounts.
  10. Even  teenagers can be motivated to use coupons. Why not give them an allowance or percentage from money they save finding and using coupons? Have them use coupons for items they want and show them how much money they will  have saved. It will be very helpful for those quickly approaching college years. Have you ever met a teenager who isn’t familiar with blogging, so why not have them research the coupon blogs and do their own money saving research?
  11. And one of my all time favorites is to let the kids plan the next restaurant trip. They go through the brochures, circulars, mailers and coupons; decide which is the best buy, bargain with each other for agreement on a particular restaurant and by the time we are in the car, there are no arguments;  everyone is in a good mood and the price is right!

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