Talking to children about money around Christmas
Talking to children about money can feel even harder during the festive season, when costs rise and expectations grow. Many families and teachers are looking for simple, reassuring ways to help children make thoughtful choices and understand what really matters at this time of year.
In this piece, Emma Mahon from our Delivery Team shares practical, age-appropriate ideas to support those conversations and build children’s confidence around money.
We are about to start the festive period once again which gives people the chance to celebrate, spend time with loved ones, eat delicious food and enjoy the twinkling lights and decorations. But of course, along with the joys we experience during this time, it would be naïve to ignore the inevitable pressure on finances. With the cost of Christmas alone on average reaching £1626, that’s a 30% rise on family expenses compared to the previous 11 months, according to The Bank of England. Along with the general rise in living costs our country is facing, it comes as no surprise that according to Family Action, 46% of parents or carers surveyed said they will go without certain things in order to afford presents this year. Family Action also found that 68% of parents plan to give children more practical presents such as schoolbooks, bedding, clothes etc, as opposed to the ‘fun’ gifts that typically bring joy.
How to Talk to Children About Spending During Festive Seasons
Festive periods and celebrations are always a tricky time to address expectations of children, especially as no parents or carers want to detract from the excitement and magic. However, this can be the perfect time readdress the true meaning of these special occasions. Whether your family celebrates Christmas, Hanukkah, Lunar New Year, or simply enjoys end-of-year downtime, Just Finance Foundation’s values of Wisdom, Generosity, Justice and Thankfulness are a prudent reminder of what really is ‘valuable’ – it is easy for adults, let alone children, to forget how some ‘gifts’ are better than others in more ways than one.
Encouraging children to ask questions and raise concerns about finances doesn’t take a break over the holidays and in fact it takes on an even more important role. For some families, that might mean buying Christmas gifts. For others, it might be preparing to go on holiday, clothing for a celebration, or ingredients for a special meal. We already know that children’s experiences of finances in their younger years will go on to shape future money habits. Educating them on how to make wise financial decisions around the festive period can help lead to confident, happy individuals ready to enjoy this time when they’re older, rather than engaging in risky behaviours they may come to regret.
Here are some ways to encourage children to have meaningful money conversations in the run up to and during the festive period:
As a family create a ‘gift book’ of acts of kindness that cost nothing. For instance, you could have Monday – Give a compliment to everyone, Tuesday – Offer to help someone who is busy, etc. At the end of the week, this would be a great chance to reflect on how everyone felt when they were treated to this additional act of kindness by others in the house. This could lead to a lovely conversation about how these ‘gifts’ have a low cost but have a big impact.
Gather items to take to a food bank and talk about how winter can be a tricky time for many people, but a hot meal in a safe place can turn someone’s day around. This can lead to how they would want to shape society as they grow older. What could they do which could ‘generous’ with their time?
Have a wardrobe clear out of any winter coats that are still in good condition but perhaps don’t fit and need a new home. Encourage children to talk about why people might need clothing donations and share with them the Wrap Up 2025 campaign. Do they think this is a good way of redistributing wealth?
If you have older children, get them to consider how they will celebrate important occasions when they’re older. Simply ask them ‘Should you go into debt for presents?’ and give them the floor after reminding them what debt is. Gaining debt is a normal part of growing up but highlighting ‘practical debt’ ‘University fees, mortgage, car on finance etc’ compared to ‘unhealthy debt’ like credit cards spent on items or activities that don’t benefit us might allow them to consider how they would spend festive money in the future.
Have your children draw around their hand and draw attention that they can see their four fingers and a thumb – five sections in the hand altogether. Top each finger or thumb with a Santa hat or Christmas picture and in each finger or thumb they can write or draw something that they are thankful for. This could lead on to a conversation about ‘Do they need something new regularly to feel happy?’ followed by, ‘Does this need to be bought?’
You could make a good old fashioned paper chain. Cut up strips of paper and encourage your children to write (or draw) an act of kindness. Put up your paper chain and everyday someone takes off the end link, opens it up to see what it says and then carries out that act of kindness. This would be another opportunity to show the value in day-to-day kindness over the festive period but also as they move into the new year. Ask them to think about ‘Why kindness matters so much?’ and ‘Can you put a price on a kind act?’
Helping Chlidren Navigate Christmas Gift Pressure
Encourage children to create a Christmas Wishlist and talk about having a range of prices. This might be a great activity for older children or those who perhaps only have a token present from St. Nick and know the rest of them come from family/friends. Talk to them about how having a range of gift requests lets you know what they might like in the future.
Have a ‘Christmas Costs Question’ everyday of advent such as: ‘Are the best presents ones that cost lots of money?’, ‘Would you rather have lots of little presents that don’t cost that much or one big present that’s more expensive?’, ‘If you could design your Christmas, what would it be like?’ This allows for a deeper conversations to flow where children can consider what really makes a Happy Christmas’.
Get children to consider gift giving if they do want to or are able to buy something for a friend or family member. Ask them, is it better to buy something quickly without any thought? i.e. an expensive football shirt for someone whose preference is drawing, or should a gift be a balance of thoughtfulness and cost?
You could talk about having a ‘homemade’ Christmas where you decide on gifts you could make for friends and family but decide on a fair budget. For instance, you could make jars of salted caramel, chutney or Christmas spiced jam for a low cost but big impact. Ask your children do they think giving their time is a ‘gift’? And listen to their thoughts about how they value this.
Every day of Advent you could have a ‘free’ fun activity that are pre-written and the children pick out each morning such as: Board game night, Hot chocolate and movie night, Make a salt dough homemade decoration for the tree, Christmas sing along kitchen disco. Granted you will need to have bought some of these items into your home, have a look around and see what you could do that you already have access to and don’t need to spend much more on. At the end of advent, ask the children if we need to spend lots of money or buy new things to have fun? Ask them if they have any ideas of things they could do that don’t cost money.
Play the 12 days of Christmas to them. Encourage the children to actually consider what the song is saying. Do you think someone would actually like that many birds in their house? (I know I wouldn’t!) Ask them why do you think someone felt the need to send so many presents? This would be a great way to talk about how people often feel pressured to spend a lot at Christmas, but this can be quite stressful for both parties. Why do they think this might be?
Remember finances aren’t just for Christmas. they’re for a lifetime! Families can find more tips in our How to Talk to Children About Money At Home guide. Teachers check out the rest of our resources on our website, including our fully rebooted Five Big Questions and start 2026 with a bang!
Emma Mahon
Financial Education Delivery Coordinator at the Just Finance Foundation, Emma supports schools across the UK to deliver LifeSavers by facilitating training, producing classroom resources and providing ongoing support. A former primary teacher with over a decade’s experience, she draws on her work as a PSHE and Maths coordinator to inform classroom practice and the LifeSavers programme.