Tis the season to become financially literate! Holiday shopping is actually a great opportunity to instill basic concepts in young children about spending and giving – not just getting. Before you venture out to the malls bedecked in boughs of holly, here are a few gifting suggestions:

• Initiate a family discussion about what types of giving options exist:
  • Giving experiences,
  • Giving the gift of giving through organizations,
  • Giving gift certificates, and
  • Giving stuff (the old standby).
• Empower your youngster as the decision-making king or queen when you gift shop together for certain family members and friends. While you should offer yourself as a resource in their decision process, don’t question their ultimate choice or else risk them becoming less engaged with this lesson.
• Assign the spending limit as either an aggregate amount for a list of people or a per person dollar amount.
• In terms of online shopping logistics, have your child initially prepare his or her shopping cart independently and then get you for a final review. If you approve of the cart’s contents, plug in your billing information and have your child press the submit button.
• In terms of in-store shopping, give your child an amount of cash in accordance with your spending limit and encourage them to lead each transaction.

Among the many benefits of children helping with the holiday shopping are giving them a ‘real’ experience handling money. In doing so, they will not only have a fun time learning about the joys of budgeting and giving, but also ease a few of your own gifting pressures. Whatever they end up picking out will be ‘the perfect gift,’ guaranteed.