Guest Author - Terrie Lynn Bittner

Ask the children to bring a container large enough to hold money, a tithing envelope and one other envelope. Bring extras in case they forget or unexpected children show up.

I like to have the children start with the activity since many of my Faith in God kids arrive late due to transportation issues. If you do this, let the children begin working on their jars as soon as they arrive. When a number of children are present or it’s the official starting time, stop for the prayer and then let them continue. They can decorate it any way they like, but since it’s a bank, they may want to include pictures of things they’d like to buy or things tithing pays for. I provide a variety of craft materials, including old church magazines, and allow the children to do things their own way, since I’m not a fan of “everything just alike” crafts. It may not look as professional, but it’s more personal to the child and teaches them more.

When they’re finished, ask them about money. How do they get money? What do they do with it when they get it? When someone mentions tithing, tell them that although they can save money for lots of things in their banks, they also need to keep their tithing there. Give them each a few tithing envelopes to place inside their bank. Make sure they know how to get their own. Encourage them to place their tithing into a tithing envelope the moment they get any money, so it’s never accidentally spent.

Have the children gather on the floor and place play money in the center of the circle. Show them how to pay tithing using the money, and by doing it as a math problem on a wipe off board. They just need to move the decimal one space over. Can they figure out which way to move it? Then set out pieces of colored paper with amounts of money written on them and let them practice. They can practice alone or as a group. If you’d like to make it more of a game, turn the paper upside down. Have each child choose one, and then, when they all have a paper, they can calculate their tithing with their play money. When they’re done, see who paid the most tithing. Be sensitive to children with learning disabilities or those who are not good at math. You may prefer to have children work in small teams.

Still working in these teams, have them make posters of things paid for with tithing. They can display this in the Primary room for a week or two. Remind them to put a headline on the poster so the younger children will know what it is. On the other side, have them make a poster encouraging junior Primary children to pay their tithing.

Finally, give them a plain envelope to decorate. This is for short term savings. Long term savings can be dropped loose in the jar until it’s taken to a bank.

We followed up the tithing lesson with a week on money management—earning, budgeting, and saving.