Making the most of money
Age range
7-11
Time to complete
We live in a world where our attention is constantly being fought for by different adverts and promotions. Whether it be on social media, gaming platforms or generally out and about it’s likely that we come across deals such as ‘buy one get one free’ or a percentage off if you multibuy. But are such deals always worth it? This activity supports you to help your child recognise good value for money.
Value for money
See if your child can remember any offers they may have spotted recently and whether they thought the offer was a good deal?
Watch the first part of the film below and help them work out the costs of the books and use the questions below. It may be helpful to get views from your child on what they thought of the offers.
- Which offer gives you the lowest price per book?
- What do you think makes a good deal?
- Is it always better to go for a deal that makes items cheaper? For example, do you really need 12 books rather than six?
- Which offer would you choose and why?
Advertising
The rest of the film focuses on popular ways of advertising. Chat these through with your child, a few of the themes are below:
- Using a celebrity or a famous person/influencer to promote the product, often through social media – a famous person they might make you think you will like the product. A person is often more appealing than just a company name and these people are often being paid to promote the products.
- Using persuasive language like best ever, brand new, 5* reviews – this makes you think other people like it, or that it is better than other similar products.
So to recap when it comes to spending money, be it pocket money or birthday money, understanding how brands market their products can help your child work out and think about whether they are getting good value for money on what they actually are keen to buy.
The family home is a busy place, family members can be full of ideas of what to spend money on which need to be prioritised. There may be a money challenge you could get your child involved with, such as finding the best deals on a family food shop, which could help them start to master these vital skills in life.
