I hung out in a second grade classroom last week to talk about saving money and then have the students make their own Money Jar.  It was a fun lesson and the Money Jars turned out unbelievable.  Kids and their creativity never ceases to amaze me.

While we were discussing money issues, I asked the students how they got money. Of course, the usual answers came up…allowance, chores, birthday money.  Then one little guy raised his hand and volunteered, “You have to spend money to get money.” 

Wow.  It took me a second to let his comment sink in.  If I was with a group of adults, I probably wouldn’t have skipped a beat.  Adults spend money on investments all the time in the hopes of making that money grow.  But I was in second-grade-mode, and the thought of a second grader coming up with this took me by surprise.

But he’s absolutely right…even on a second grade level.  Think about the good old fashioned lemonade stand.  Before you can make a profit, you first need to purchase all the supplies.  The same goes for making and selling crafts which a lot of kids like to do. 

I am always impressed with the kind of thinking that kids do if we allow them the opportunity to share their thoughts and reasons.  Who’d have thunk that a seven-year-old would get the concept that, yes, sometimes to make money you need to spend it.  Sheesh…with this kind of thinking, it’s hard to be smarter than a second grader.  🙂