Introducing Save-o-saurus Rex!

Introduction:

Research shows one of the best ways to help your child understand saving is for them to actively participate in it. Our friend Save-o-saurus Rex can help you do this over the course of your sessions, read below to learn more about what the Save-o-saurus does. 

Instructions:

Here’s how to make a Save-o-saurus Rex in your own home.

1. Print out the savings pot poster and the coins – Click on the red writing to print resources: Save-o-saurus Rex pot poster and coins. 

Haven’t got access to a printer? Draw your own poster or use a jar instead, so your child can see their savings grow! 

2. Agree a savings goal with your child – This should not be linked to something with monetary value! Choose an activity that will motivate your child to save. Maybe an extra episode of their favourite TV show or their favourite food treat.

3. Decide to spend or save – At the end of each session, Save-o-saurus Rex will give your child coins for their hard work. Each time your child should choose whether to spend or save the coins.  

4. Spend Coins – Your child gets a much smaller treat that you decide. Maybe a snack, or a couple of minutes of phone, TV or internet time. Daily treats should be much smaller than the savings goal. Ultimately, you should encourage them to save by regularly reminding them of their savings goal and what they need to do to achieve it.  

OR

Save Coins – Save any coins on the poster, or in your jar. The poster has a red line showing the minimum amount of coins needed (15) to reach their savings goal. 

5. Savings reward! – Hopefully your child will have now saved enough coins to reach their savings goal and will get their reward at the end of the five sessions. It is down to you to encourage them to save and watch it grow. 

If your child has not reached the saving goal, we would not recommend that you give them the savings reward. This would positively reinforce poor saving habits, and is not how things work in real life! Instead, talk about how they could reach their goal next time and what they could do differently.  

This is not a behaviour chart; it instead is designed to allow your child to practice saving. Please ensure you do not reward or take away coins based solely on bad behaviour.   

Happy saving! 

Introduce the Save-o-saurus Rex savings pot

Follow the instructions above to introduce the Save-o-saurus Rex savings pot. Agree a goal to work towards with your child. You may wish to get them to draw a picture as a visual reminder of what they are saving towards. Display this prominently with your savings pot to keep track of their coins.