Understanding Child Development

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Children absorb money messages early.

Money talks can begin with contribution.

Helping builds confidence, agency, and belonging.

Silence can make money feel secretive or shameful.

It’s summer break. For some children, this might include camp, tutoring, sports, and different kinds of enrichment activities many parents hope will benefit them in the future. For others, summer might be a child's first taste of entrepreneurship: a lemonade stand, garage sale, babysitting, or selling something homemade.

In my years of working with children and families, parents often ask: When is it time to talk to kids about money?

My answer is usually: earlier than you think, but perhaps not by starting with money.

For young children, money can be abstract, especially in our increasingly cashless society. They watch adults tap phones, swipe cards, or click buttons without fully understanding what is happening underneath. Money can also be emotionally loaded, especially in families where money narratives have been tied to stress, scarcity, conflict, guilt, or shame.

Some parents have shared with me their worries that talking about money too openly will spoil their children, make them entitled, or cause them to focus too much on superficial things. I remind parents that this concern makes sense. Most parents are trying to raise children who are grounded, generous, and aware that money is not the only measure of a life. But when families avoid money entirely, children may still learn something. They may learn that money is mysterious, dangerous, shameful, or too emotionally charged to discuss.

This is why I believe that money conversations do not need to begin with money itself. The better entry point may be contribution.

Contribution asks: How do I help? How do I participate in this family? What can I do that matters? How do I notice what is........

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