A friend of mine was pretending with her grandchild that they were at the grocery store.  My friend was the check out clerk and her grandchild was purchasing articles of food.  As the child brought them to her, my friend pretended to hit the keys on the cash register.  “What are you doing?” asked the child.  When my friend tried to explain, her grandchild said, “But Grandma, you do it like this”! and proceeded to scan each item with her hand.

Recently our 3 year old granddaughter received a little grocery store for her birthday, complete with an old fashioned cash register and scale to weigh fruit.  It also came with a credit card!  Modern?  Yes.  But how can a brand like Hello Kitty be so age inappropriate?  Whether a child is 3 or 8, how are they going to learn the importance of having the funds to pay for purchases if they learn that a plastic card is the same as money?

With the credit card debts at $775 billion in the US, and the equivalency of US$ 87.5 billion in the UK, $73.9 billion in Canada, and $40.4 in Australia (USA Today, Dec. 09) we would do better to have games that teach financial literacy to children.  We need to raise them to understand that money still represents compensation for an effort made or service rendered.

Do you offer age appropriate games?

• Look at the recommended age on the toy.  Companies have researched these ages.
• Play with your grandchild so she understands the game or toy, and you can see how she develops.
• Ask to see what is in the box so you can remove anything that is not age appropriate like the credit card in the grocery store package.
• Most bookstores have specialists in the children’s section.  Seek their advice.
• It is always age appropriate to make a photo book of the child, with or without text.

Remember.  It is never too early for age-esteem.  Age appropriate toys help foster age-esteem.