Buckaroo has always been fascinated with my ATM card. As a barely-speaking 2 year old, whenever he’d see something he wanted he would tell me “get jur card ma!” That’s why when I saw the Summit Zillions Deluxe ATM Savings Bank while Christmas shopping in December, I knew it would make a perfect gift for him.
The Summit Zillions Deluxe ATM Savings bank has helped me teach him the importance of saving his money and spending it wisely. Equipped with a motorized bill feeder and automatic coin counter, he was easily able to add the money from his piggy bank and watch the total grow on the LCD screen.
The savings bank comes with an ATM card that allows you to personalize a PIN number for your child to remember to help them access their funds and make deposits. It even boosts educational value by having your child punch in exactly how much money they are depositing and withdrawing.
After emptying all of this piggy bank coins and Christmas money into the ATM Bank, Buckaroo was pleasantly surprised to learn he had over $40 in there, and he knew right away that he could buy a new DS game with that kind of cash!
I decided to turn this new toy into a teachable lesson since I knew he was eager to spend his money. I sat him down and explained to him that he could spend his money on whatever he would like but he can only do so when he has enough to make a donation to someone else first. DaddyMac and I decided that for every $10 he spends on an item, he needs to have $1 extra to donate to someone else. This lead us into a great discussion about how fortunate he is to have so much, and how his donations could really help someone else in need.
Today Buckaroo made his first withdrawal from his ATM Bank–he spent $34.99 on a new DS game and gave me $3 to buy Spongebob Bandaids for a Haiti Drive that the moms group we belong to is running.
It’s never too early to teach your kids about the value of a dollar, and about doing good for other people! I’d love to hear how you enforce saving and spending wisely with your children…
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