Financial Roots

A system-based design project exploring how children build financial understanding, habits, and long-term autonomy.
This thesis examines financial literacy not as a matter of knowledge transfer, but as a dynamic system of behaviors, values, and family dialogue.

Quotes

💡“I feel confused—what truly has a lasting impact [on children’s education]? The research is mixed, and causality is unclear. My strong hunch is that practice and habits and conversations are what matter [for financial education].”

—Ron Lieber, The Opposite of Spoiled book author

💡“I think with conversations it’s all about finding balance. Especially with low income families. Parents often either burden their children with financial struggles, creating a negative view of money, or shield them entirely, leaving kids unprepared to manage finances realistically.”

—Elizabeth Bright, Children’s Psychosocial Rehabilitation Technician

The Financial Roots System

Stage 1 — Understanding Money

  • Learning assets, liabilities, and cash flow through play
  • A board game that helps parents and children understand assets, liabilities, and cash flow by building and managing their own farm together.

Stage 2 — Build Money Habits

  • Turning everyday shopping into a budgeting habit
  • An experience that invites children to practice budgeting by participating in real-world shopping decisions and developing healthy spending habits.

Stage 3 — Expanding Financial Thinking

  • Introducing saving, borrowing, and investing through storytelling
  • If children only learn how to spend money, spending becomes the only thing they associate with having money. This project uses storytelling to help children and parents explore saving, borrowing, and investing together.

Stage 4 — Redefining Wealth

  • Investing in what truly matters
  • Learning about money is not just about making more of it, but about investing in the assets that matter most in life—such as happiness, health, and knowledge.

View full case study →

Cultivating Financial Roots – Growing Children’s Financial Literacy for Life

Scroll to Top