What do Godzilla, the marshmallow test, Taco Friday and a second-hand bicycle have in common?
A financial literacy session with Grade 2 and Grade 3 students. 🦕🌮
This week, as part of Global Money Week, I was invited to present three modules to the youngest audience I’ve ever stood in front of — 7 and 8-year-olds at an international school in Oslo.
The agenda was simple. The building blocks of personal finance, made age-appropriate:
📦 Needs vs. Wants tutorial
🐷 Smart Saving tutorial
💸 Pay Yourself First tutorial
But here’s the thing about kids at that age: they bring the whole world with them into the room — loud, curious, and full of questions you didn’t see coming.
They negotiate allowances. They compare prices at the kiosk. They remember exactly what they gave up to save for something they *really* wanted.
They already have a financial life. They just don’t have the words for it yet.
So we gave them the words — and they ran with them.
- A student was eager to explain how his father bought a Godzilla toy in Japan, because it was cheaper 🙂
- The marshmallow test made delayed gratification feel like a superpower.
- Taco Friday became a case study in recurring expenses.
- What about the second-hand bicycle? A masterclass in smart saving with a goal in mind.
The insights these kids offered into daily life and daily choices reminded me why financial education should start early — not with complexity, but with curiosity. In class and at home.
Thank you to the Oslo NLIS school for the invitation and trust. And to the students: you surprised me, as kids always do.