Activities That Teach
Incorporating activities into informational sessions is a great way to help the content stick. Consider trying one of the following activities the next time you teach.
- Draw Your Dreams (PDF) is a group (or individual) activity that helps participants identify financial goals and create realistic action steps to make their dreams a reality.
- Financial Juggling (PDF) is a group activity that can serve as an icebreaker that helps participants learn classmates’ names or as an energizer to demonstrate the potential difficulty of juggling multiple financial priorities and experiencing the unexpected.
- Have You Ever (PDF) is an energizing group activity that gets participants moving and can create an early bond within a new group. This activity is also a good way to open a workshop or class if you want to promote sharing and contributing through the remainder of the presentation.
- The Cup Dance (PDF) is a group activity that can be used as a team-building exercise, incorporated into a lesson review or used to demonstrate how learning to manage money is a process.
- Expression Cards (PDF) allow people to express themselves in a safe, non-threatening way. The earlier students participate in a lesson, the more likely they’ll engage throughout the class. Use these cards as an icebreaker, to gauge thoughts or reactions to a topic or as a closing activity to bring your message full-circle. Each deck is $15 and includes 53 full-color cards. To order, email the Executive Training Team at OU’s Team Quest or call 405.325.0464.
- Money Habitudes is a card game that allows people to talk about how their habits and attitudes related to money affect how, why and when they spend, save, give, invest and go into debt.
- Susie Smith’s budget (PDF) is an activity that demonstrates you don’t need a lot of money to live on a budget. It’s not what you have; it’s what you do with it.
Use Susie’s budget as an opportunity to dissect and debate what other people do with their money. Students can review and discuss Susie’s choices, what she did well and what she could do differently. Consider printing blank budgets so students can complete their own. Emphasize customizing; no single budget is right for everyone. - Social Media ID Theft (PDF) is an activity that focuses on identity theft prevention. Social networking is fun, but it’s prime territory for identity thieves. Ask students to review and edit this sample social mediaprofile for potentially damaging information that ID thieves might look for. Then, discuss how to have fun online without risking your personal information.
