Open up about money at school with free classroom activities

Talk Money Week at school

open up about money at school and help prepare students for real world financial decision making.

According to MaPS’s 2022 financial wellbeing survey, 47% of UK children aged 7–17 received a meaningful financial education. This Talk Money Week, let’s work together to change that.

Financial education is a vital life skill that helps children build the confidence and understanding they need to make informed decisions about money as they grow. As educators, you play a key role in preparing your students for adult life, and this Talk Money Week is a perfect opportunity to bring financial education into the classroom.

Our free primary school activities are designed to support your students' future financial wellbeing. These engaging resources help children grasp key financial concepts, including understanding the difference between wants and needs, and making thoughtful decisions about spending and saving. Our activities are flexible, practical, and focused on developing essential life skills, making it easier for you to incorporate financial education into everyday learning.

By participating in Talk Money Week, you can help equip your students with the tools they need to navigate the financial challenges of the future with confidence. Explore our free activities and get started today!

For campaign dates and more ways to take part, visit our Talk Money Week hub.

Featuring curriculum linked resources from LifeSavers
Illustration of an adult sitting on the floor, holding a savings jar with coins inside, talking with two young children about money.

Start a money conversation in your classroom

Give children space to share their ideas about money. Our free packs include three age-appropriate conversation cards for ages 4–12, with follow-up questions and tips to keep the discussion going.

Get classroom cards

SHare your voice and shape financial education

Calling all primary school Headteachers! Share your expertise with us and help shape the future of financial education.

At Just Finance Foundation, we believe that financial education is an essential life skill for young people, and we want to hear from those who know best—our headteachers. We invite you to take part in our Financial Education in Primary Schools Survey, designed to gather insights on best practices, challenges, and opportunities for improving financial education in our schools.

By sharing your expertise, you’ll help shape the future of financial education - and raise the profile of your school’s commitment to preparing students for life. Your participations is key to ensuring that every child has the opportunity to develop money knowledge and confidence that will benefit them throughout their lives.

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Take the survey

Resources for Talk Money Week

Use these free primary school resources during Talk Money Week or throughout the year. Developed with The Story Project, Picture News, Sumdog, GamCare and Global School Alliance, they explore saving, money safety, numeracy, online spending and how money choices affect others.

Choose materials that match your pupils’ experience and reading level. Sumdog’s worksheets are aimed at KS2. For other packs, check the included teacher guidance before choosing a lesson. Some packs require a form to access the downloads.

For teacher background reading, explore GamCare’s guidance on loot boxes and in-game spending.

A teacher sat on the ground surrounded by three children as she shows them an image of Milo so that she can do a lesson around financial education

Try a 10-minute classroom activity

Needs, wants or “it depends”?

Suggested ages: 7–11. Time: about 10 minutes. You’ll need: six picture or word cards, such as water, a warm coat, a toy, a phone, a book and a bus ticket.

  1. In pairs, sort the cards into “need”, “want” or “it depends”.

  2. Choose one item and explain your answer. Could someone else’s circumstances change it?

  3. Finish with one sentence: “An item might be a need when…”

Adapt for your class: for ages 4–6, use three pictures and talk together. Ages 7–9 can explain choices in pairs; ages 10–11 can explore a scenario that changes an item’s purpose. Use examples suited to your pupils and avoid asking them to share personal family finances.

For the downloadable packs below, check each resource’s teacher guidance for age suitability and adapt it to your pupils’ learning needs.

  • The story project logo

    The Story Project

    Using the book The Dress in the Window, explore using the magic of children’s stories to inspire lifelong wellbeing.

    Download it now
  • Picture News Logo

    Picture news

    Dive into thought-provoking questions and teaching resources as your class explores different ways to keep money safe.

    Download it now
  • Sumdog logo

    Sumdog

    Help your class with their numeracy skills with fun worksheets around maths and money for KS2.

    Download it now
  • Gamcare logo

    GamCare

    Discuss What is gambling as you explore loot boxes in video games and their impact on our feelings.

    Download it now
  • Global School Alliance logo

    Global School Alliance

    Discover the connection between financial education and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

    Download it now

Access more free resources - sign up as a LifeSavers school

Continue money lessons all year round with LifeSavers!

LifeSavers is our FREE financial education programme for primary schools, designed to make learning about money engaging and meaningful. Through LifeSavers, we partner with teachers, educators, and schools to provide a wide range of curriculum-linked resources and hands-on activities that bring financial education to life.

All our activities, resources, and training are delivered at no cost to schools. By signing up as a LifeSavers School, you'll receive ongoing support to embed financial education in a way that suits your students and teaching staff.

Enrich your classroom with flexible, expert-developed lesson plans and join a network of teachers passionate about financial literacy.

For further planning support, explore Young Enterprise’s financial education planning framework for ages 3–11.

Explore LifeSavers

your financial wellbeing reflection tool

Your Financial Wellbeing Reflection Tool has been developed by JFF’s financial education experts and mirrors the approach we use in our school programmes: the 5 Big Questions about money. These questions are carefully designed to help individuals reflect on their own financial habits, emotions and decision-making processes. Just as our school education programmes help children explore the role money plays in their lives, this Financial Wellbeing Reflection Tool helps adults to explore these themes in a practical way.

Share the Financial Wellbeing Reflection Tool with the people in your life this Talk Money Week and take the first step in opening up about money.

Open reflection tool

Listen up.

For Talk Money Week 2023, we partnered with Teachers Talk Radio to help encourage teachers to talk about money in the classroom and to explore topics around financial education for young people.

  • Loot boxes and skin betting

    Tom Hopkins Burke is joined by Craig De Vos from GamCare and Hayley Foulkes-Coyne from the Just Finance Foundation to discuss 'Loot boxes and skin betting' - why is financial education so important now and for the future?

    Listen now

  • Innovation in financial education

    Lisa Davis (Senior Policy and Propositions Manager at the Money and Pensions Service), Paul Street and Emma Mahon (financial education experts from the Just Finance Foundation) bring their knowledge and experience as teachers to deliver financial education programmes that support schools across the UK.

    Listen now

  • Credit unions and student savings clubs

    Tom is joined by Ravi Ravindran and Danielle Hunt to talk about the importance of talking about money early and the innovative resources available, including credit unions and student savings clubs.

    Listen now

  • Is financial education equal?

    Hannah Wilson is joined by Sarah Barlow and Sarah Johnson with a focus on how financial education can be adapted for learners in alternative provision and learners with additional needs.

    Listen now

More about Talk Money Week for Schools

  • It is important to start teaching and talking about money with our children from a young age.

    Research shows that financial habits begin to form as early as ages 4-7. And yet, financial education is not taught in primary schools through a consistent curriculum and learning experience. This puts some children at a disadvantage compared to their peers and can impact their financial confidence as they grow older.

    Teaching and talking about money at home encourages open communication. It helps children feel comfortable discussing financial choices and seeking advice, fostering a supportive environment where they can learn and grow.

    We know it can be difficult to know how to talk about money. Read our free Talking About Money at Home guide to get started.

  • Talk Money Week is hosted by the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) to encourage people to open up about their finances.

    MaPS started Talk Money Week because research shows that people who talk about money make better financial decisions, have stronger relationships, feel less stressed and help their children develop healthy financial habits for life.

    Read more about MaPS and Talk Money Week.

  • Here are some top tips for starting a conversation with children in simple, age-appropriate and engaging ways:

    • Start early
      Read stories together than include characters making money choices. As they grow, introduce concepts like spending and saving using pretend or real money.

    • Use real-life examples
      For younger children, ask them if they know where money comes from when you buy a snack from the shop.
      For older children, try setting a food shopping budget together.

    • Talk about mistakes
      Share the mistakes you have made and what you have learned to help avoid similar mistakes and develop critical thinking.

    For more top tips and activities you can do together, download our free Talking About Money at Home Guide.

  • Developed in consultation with education experts, the LifeSavers resources align with the national curriculum and focus on improving numeracy and critical thinking, as well as key money concepts. Created by teachers for teachers, we keep expanding our resources to support schools and reach more children of all backgrounds and abilities. These resources include cross-curricular activities for Maths, PHSE, English and Drama, and innovative research projects dedicated to making financial education accessible to more children.

    Find out more about the LifeSavers programme now.

  • Schools that signup to LifeSavers will get:

    · FREE access to all our resources – these are quality marked and compared against the PSHE, financial and maths curriculum.

    · Support from our team – yes a real person!

    · Unique values based approach to financial education