Break the ice, engage students in conversation with each other, and tie in personal finance with these THREE new activities! 

1. 15-Point Pickup

Students mix, mingle, and make meaningful money talk as they form groups to answer bold financial questions and collect 15 points! 

Materials: Teacher Guide

2. Would Your Rather…?

Get to know your students as they debate tricky choices, like: Would you rather…have no TV subscriptions or no music subscriptions?

The activity includes 20 scenarios that prompt student discussion about financial decisions. Play it your way by making it a MOVE activity, incorporating Jenga, or something else!

Materials: Teacher Guide

3. Rapid-Fire Finance Face-Off

Get your class moving with this fast-paced partner activity where students swap stories and explore how values, emotions, and biases shape our money decisions. It’s behavioral economics meets speed dating—no right answers, just real talk.

Materials: Teacher Guide

Teacher Tip: While these activities are designed to break the ice at the start of the school year, you can use them year round to provide a fun and engaging experience in your classroom! 

About the Author

Sonia Dalal

Sonia has always been passionate about instruction and improving students' learning experiences. She's come a long way since her days as a first grader, when she would "teach" music and read to her very attentive stuffed animals after school. Since then, she has taught students as a K-12 tutor, worked in several EdTech startups in the Bay Area, and completed her Ed.M in Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She is passionate about bringing the high quality personal finance content and instruction she wished she'd received in school to the next generation of students and educators. When she isn't crafting lesson guides or working with teachers, Sonia loves to spend her time singing, being outdoors, and adventuring with family and friends!

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