Seriously Saving You Money: BOK Doing Children's Financial Outreach

A fun board game and a program at The Salvation Army's Boys & Girls Club aims to teach kids financial lessons.

The Bank of Oklahoma is leading a new financial outreach program called Learn for Life.

And it could get these boys and girls on their way to Seriously Saving Money.

"OK, so since you did well on your report card, that means you earned a dollar."

Kids at the Salvation Army's Boys and Girls Club on North Harvard are having a lot of fun, but they're also learning a lot at the same time.

They're playing a money-focused board game called Allowance, where they can earn money.

But they can also lose it.

“You have an overdue library book, that means you're going to have to pay 60 cents."

While they may lose some imaginary money, the folks at Bank of Oklahoma are using the game as a financial education outreach program, hoping the kids don't ever lose the knowledge the game teaches them.

"We're teaching them, that you need to learn how to earn the money, manage the money if you're going to enjoy spending the money,” Salvation Army Maj. Jim Taylor said.

The kids learn smart spending habits from folks in the business world.

Bank of Oklahoma volunteers are playing the Allowance game with the students who are between kindergarten and sixth grade.

"I think it's a valuable lesson for these kids, even as young as they are,” Taylor said.

"It's never too young to begin learning about how to operate a budget and manage your finances,” BOK’s Pat Piper said.

The game makes something like operating a budget or managing finances actually fun.

"A lot of these kids, don't get that kind of training at home,” Taylor said.

BOK will have employees at six different Boys and Girls Clubs playing the game this month.

Bank of Oklahoma is using the Allowance game with clubs in 10 states.