Happy HallowTurkeyMas! That’s right, it seems the retailers of the world would like us to believe that the “Holiday Season” begins in September and ends on January 1st. In fact, this is so apparent, even kids have picked up on it.
Ask your average five year old when Christmas is and they are likely to say the day after Halloween. Retailers seem to transition earlier and earlier from Halloween to Christmas -- Turkey Day, I’m afraid, is just not worthy of much decoration, unless you are at the grocery store and then you can’t help but run into hugantic displays of canned pumpkin, marshmallows and bread crumbs.
So what messages are we sending our children with this mashed-up holiday menagerie? Is there a problem here? Are children learning the real value of the holidays or only the “value” of a good holiday sale? However you answer these questions, the holidays are a perfect time to engage your child in some experiential activities on the value of money. So class, let’s begin . . .
Activity #1 – Santa’s sack is not full of money!
To encourage children to appreciate gifts both received and given, try this. Have them make a Santa list with three categories and limit the amount of items the categories can ultimately have . . . three is a good number. The categories are as follows:
1) Presents I would like Santa to bring me
2) Presents I would like to give to others who have less than me
3) Presents I would like to give to my family
Help your child get creative by having at least one of the items on the list be something that can be done for free. For instance, Santa can bring homemade cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning; you can smile at someone each day; you can make your bed on each morning from Christmas to New Years to give your Mom a break (ok, that was a personal one).
Lesson learned: Not all gifts come from the store. Gifts from the heart feel good when given and received.
Activity #2 – Keep within your Santa List budget
A sale is only of value if you actually need what is on sale! Take a trip to the mall with the following goal. Find the best deal on one of the items from your child’s Santa List- preferably not the “presents I would like” list. Don’t buy anything that is not on the Santa List and make sure no matter what it is; it is within your budget. It may take more than one trip to accomplish this goal.
Lesson learned: Finding something you really want at a really good price feels good.
Activity # #3 – Debunk that Ad!
You don’t have to buy something just because a beautiful girl, or a handsome man, or a cute kid says you should. Companies spend millions of dollars studying what triggers a person to buy something. Engage your child in a game of “debunk that ad.” You can play this game almost anywhere – except maybe camping in the woods!
Find any advertisement and ask your child to tell you the following: a) what is the ad selling b) how are they trying to make you feel c) what are they not telling you.
Lesson learned: Ads don’t tell you everything you need to know about a product and buying based solely on emotion can lead to buyer’s remorse.
That seems like enough to get you headed in the right direction. Have fun over the holidays (whichever ones you celebrate) and enjoy your family. No amount of money can ever replace that! So, happy HallowTurkeyMas!
Post co-written by Tracy Tamura and Yvonne Ceresa, CFA with Merrill Lynch
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