Stories About Money
A long time ago, people used to trade chickens, pigs or fish for things like firewood, shoes or hay. They didn’t really need money, or very much of it. They just kept trading things they owned for other things they wanted.
As people acquired things, the need to trade wasn’t as important so they created money. The first form of money was gold. Everyone really liked using gold, but it was big and heavy and eventually people had so much gold that they couldn’t find enough places to hide it in their houses. So they created banks where people could store their gold. These were secure buildings where people could put their money, keep it safe and take it out when they needed it. The best part about these banks was that people could borrow money until they had more and could pay the bank back.
The trouble was only rich people could take advantage of banks and borrow money, and that left poor people with only their straw mattresses to hide their money. So a group of poor people formed their own bank so they could keep their money safe and borrow money from each other to buy seeds for their fields; then they would pay the money back when they sold their harvest. Instead of calling it a bank, they called it a credit union.
Having banks and credit unions made it possible for people to sell chickens and pigs and fish for dollars, and then save the money until they found just the right pair of shoes (imagine carrying around a fish in your pocket for a week while you were shopping).
Today’s Money
There are two different types of money: paper and coins. These are both stamped so that people know how much they’re worth (so you don’t pay too much for those shoes).
One dollar bill - $1.00
Five dollar bill - $5.00
Ten dollar bill - $10.00
Twenty dollar bill - $20.00
Fifty dollar bill - $50.00
Penny - .1 cent
Nickel - .5 cents
Dime - .10 cents
Quarter - .25 cents
A piggy bank is a good place to keep our money safe at home. (By the way, it’s called a piggy bank because a long time ago having a pig was like having money—the bigger the pig, the more it was worth). When your piggy bank gets full, it’s good to put it in the credit union so your little brother or sister isn’t tempted to break it open and run to the store and spend all your shoe money on candy.
Money Match Game
Age: Pre-school and up
Items needed:
One piggy bank
One die
10 pennies (per person)
Five nickels (per person)
Five dimes
Two quarters
Objective:
To be the first player to have 25 cents (using just pennies and nickels) or 50 cents (using all coins) in your piggy bank.
Instructions:
Taking turns rolling the die, each player receives the amount of pennies shown on the die. As each player accumulates five pennies or more, the five pennies are traded in for a nickel and so on. Continue rolling the die until the first player reaches 25 cents or 50 cents. The child can then put all the money into their new piggy bank which can then be deposited into their Deseret First account.
Goal:
Teach children the worth of each coin—five pennies equal a nickel, two nickels equal a dime…etc.
About the Author:
Kris Mecham has been our President and CEO since July 1, 1991. He enjoys family, farming, waterskiing, and golf.
