Kids can learn how to balance the SHARING, SAVING, and SPENDING of money through these fun family activities:

• Meal preparation -- Using coupons and store ads, plan and shop for a meal within a certain budget. Give the fixings or prepare the meal for another family you know or donate the items to a local food shelf.
• Vacation planning -- Make saving and planning for summer vacations a family activity. Remember to allocate part of your budget to giving back to the museums, monuments or other sites that you will visit.
• Dollar days -- Around a certain holiday or theme, draw names to buy a gift for another family member, but spend only $1. This teaches kids that you can still give something meaningful without spending a lot of money.
• Garden planning -- Invite your kids to save some money to spend on seeds and plan for this summer's garden. When it comes time to harvest, encourage them to share some of their crop with others.
• Board games -- Classics like "Life" and "Payday" teach valuable lessons in dealing with financial success, as well as with financial challenges.
• Analyze ads -- Review commercials together. Are the ads addressing legitimate needs? Are they items worth saving for?
• Analyze movies -- Pop in a family favorite and have your kids keep a lookout for product placements. Discuss the power of brand names and how they affect how people differentiate between wants and needs.

Post this list on your family's refrigerator, along with your kids' own ideas for activities.

Get creative and have fun!