As you may remember from a previous post, I love the idea of teaching kids to spend, save and share early life, so that they learn good money skills young.

Recently, I started having my children (age 6 & 3) earn their allowance by giving them a quarter per chore and for other things that they needed a little "incentive" to accomplish. (For the record, many experts disagree about if children should just get a set allowance, or earn money for their chores. I'm not saying my is the right way, or the only way, but this is working for us for now.)

Every Sunday, after a house clean-up, where everyone helps, we dump out the quarters that they've earned and put them into our banks from MoonJar.com which have three sections for saving, spending and sharing.  For each dollar, two quarters go into spending, one in to saving and one into sharing (charity) 

While this  process has been working really well for us, I have found an awesome video that helps to reinforce the messages I've been trying to teach them.

The Money Mammals is a fun DVD for kids age 3-7 that teaches children about basic transactions as well as the importance of sharing, saving and 'spending smart.' It's all done in an incredibly lively and accessible way, with adorable puppets and songs that will stick in your head!  The other day, in the dollar store, I found myself singing "You can't buy both you must make a choice" to my kids -- they actually got it and a meltdown was avoided!

If you want to make sure that you're kids don't end up on "economic outpatient care" (provided by YOU!)  The Money Mammals is a worthwhile investment in their future -- and yours!