From Passive to Purposeful: Using Mini-Economies to Teach Kids to Save

SESSION DESCRIPTION

How do we help young people move from being passive recipients of financial decisions to purposeful economic decision-makers?

In this webinar, Dr. Stephen Day draws on insights from his book, Teach a Kid to Save, to explore how families and educators can cultivate economic agency in children through the use of mini-economies. Participants will learn what a mini-economy is, why it works, and how it can be implemented not only by parents, but also by teachers, neighbors, and community groups.

The session will highlight how structured opportunities to work, save, spend, and create allow young people to practice real economic decision-making and develop habits that extend well beyond childhood. Dr. Day will also model the use of the book’s embedded “Think and Teach” questions, demonstrating how intentional prompts can spark meaningful conversations about money, motivation, and choice.

Throughout the session, Dr. Day will connect these practical strategies to relevant research in self-determination theory and behavioral economics, illustrating how insights from economics and psychology work together to shape how people relate to money and the world.

PRESENTER

Dr. Stephen Day is a professor at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Business and director of the VCU Center for Economic Education, where he helps students understand not just how to use money, but how economic decisions shape life in a complex world. A prolific researcher and educator, he runs a real household mini-economy with his four children, collaborates with the Virginia Council on Economic Education on teacher training, and brings both scholarship and lived experience to his work.