A jar for now and a jar for later

The activity

Two jars, a regular amount and one thing to save for, so that your child learns to choose, to wait, and to live with what they chose.

What it is for. Children learn about money by handling it: choosing, waiting, and finding that money once spent is gone. Two jars and a regular amount give your child that experience every week, with sums low enough that a mistake costs very little. It needs no extra money, so it suits any family, including one where money is tight, and it gives your child something about money that is theirs to decide.

• The first step. Choose the amount you will give each week, and the day. It doesn’t need to be new money: if money is tight, use what you already spend on your child’s sweets and comics, so the activity costs nothing extra.

Safety. If there are children under five in the house, keep the jars, the coins and any buttons out of their reach.

When to get help. If your child has hurt themselves, or talks about not wanting to be alive, stay calm, thank them if they have told you, don’t promise to keep it secret, and act that day: help them ask the surgery for an urgent appointment, and if it is closed, use the routes under “If you need help right now”, at the foot of every page. If your child tells you that someone is hurting them, stay calm, thank them for telling you, don’t promise to keep it secret, and act that day, using those routes; if the person hurting your child lives in your home or your child’s other home, go straight to children’s social care or the police. A child protection helpline, listed under “If you need help right now”, at the foot of every page, will talk it through with you. If your child is badly hurt, or may have taken too much of a medicine, get medical help straight away, even if they seem well. If a change in your child’s mood or behaviour lasts for several weeks, gets worse, or begins to affect sleep, eating or school, talk to their school and your GP. If worry about money has become more than you can manage yourself, start with free debt advice, and if you have thoughts of not wanting to be alive, use the routes under “If you need help right now” straight away.

The other four steps, and your part in it, are in the library.

It goes with

• When Money Is Tight. For parents whose family is under financial strain, and for any parent wondering how much to tell a child about money.

The first chapter you open here is free to read in full.

Free on this subject

• Money worries. What to do first, what helps, and who else can help. Free to read and to print.
• Parenting strategy. What to do first, what helps, and who else can help. Free to read and to print.