Hello & Welcome to Money Factor -

A Kid's Guide to Money & Finance

Welcome to our online class! Your journey begins with a question: what is money? What does the word 'money' actually mean? Here's a clue: think goods and services. Happy learning!

Cecilia

Time for a little action! Join our fun economics workout. If you think the object on the screen is a good, duck. If it is a service, leap.

Ready? GO, with va-va-voom! If you know by heart what goods and services are, skip the introduction and go directly to 1.01 minute and start ducking or leaping right away!

Money gets you goods and services but not all goods are alike. Some goods are easily spoilt, some last a long time. Some goods are used every day, some only once in a while. Some goods describe how much we earn and how we live. Step this way to a mini guide to understand goods a little better: goods to meet you!

Money gets you goods and services - alright: by now you have learned this definition by heart. Here's a little more food for thought for you. Let’s find out how many functions and tasks money must fulfil before we can use it.

Clue: hard work...

Now that we understand what money really is and how it works, let's find out its history. Welcome to Prehistory: no school, no hot baths, no warm beds, no internet, no ice cream, no coins, no banknotes, no debit cards, no credit cards. Does this mean no shopping? NO WAY! Hop on the time bike to find out what our ancestors did when they needed something!

This is the story of a tiny island in the middle of the ocean and very far from other countries. This isle is home only to a few thousands people. When western merchants and explorers arrived, they expected the inhabitants of Yap to use only barter to exchange goods and services. They were oh-so-wrong! Today we are learning crazy but true facts about a hard type of... errr what exactly? It's HARD to say (ok, ok, I will stop with my silly puns right now). Seriously, though: what does the story of Yap's 'fei' say about money? Is a fei a sort of money? The discovery of Yap may not have made history but it has helped the experts re-think money and what it is. This debate goes on to this day and YOU can be part of it. Let me know your thoughts; send me a message using the contact section at the bottom of this page or get an adult to post on our social media accounts.

In ancient times people swapped goods and services (barter) but when they could not, they trusted each other to pay later (credit). Everything worked well so... why did we start using coins? Clue: too many coincidences, not enough trust! Curious? Good: curiosity is the beginning of knowledge! Let's start with this video.

Coins were beautiful and impressive pieces of art that were used to pay AND to show off the achievements of the cities that minted them. Are you ready to see the other side of these coins? If the answer is 'YES, PLEASE' hop on the time bike and get ready to find out a few crazy but true facts about coins.

Attention Curiosity Corner Fans: this video includes two new words. Here they are:

1) counterfeit= fake

2) unprecedented= never done or seen before. In this video we use it to describe the role of the 'dokimastes', who enjoyed the most powerful position a slave ever had.

Meet the form of money that made travelling and making big payments safe and easy! It's light, it's global and it has a long history: that's the banknote! Born in China in the XI century, it became popular in Europe in the XVII century and it's still going strong (and stronger) today!

It's old, it's clever, it's global and it has an amazing story with a few crazy chapters. This animation is about crazy but true things about banknotes.

Attention Curiosity Corner Fans: this video includes new words.

Here they are:

1) Face Value: the number printed on a coin or a banknote

2) Fiat Banknotes: banknotes NOT backed by gold.

We are all economists because we all make decisions about the world around us: time, money and resources. Decisions, decisions...

Let's hop on the time bike to ancient Athens to find out what the word 'Economy' really means. Clue? Home and... rules/management. Does this sound like Greek to you? Exactly!!

There are many ways to manage our resources and that's why there are different kinds of economic systems. Off we go on an another learning adventure to find out where and how different types of economies came about and how they developed through the centuries. Which system appeals to you most? Which of these systems has been adopted by your country?

Welcome to another episode of the Curiosity Corner, where hungry minds get a little extra!

You don't need fancy shops and tills to make markets. You only need someone who needs something (demand) and someone able to provide that thing (supply). Supply and demand make a market.

It's time for a little money movement.

When demand meets supply, we have a market and... a DANCE. Get ready to dance to the market's tune.

YOU will need:

* someone to stand opposite you

* and va-va-voom!

Ready? DANCE!

Why? Do you usually shop? Who or what decides how markets work? Who decides what product is successful and how much it costs ? It's the Invisible Hand.

Says who?

Says Adam Smith, the economist who mentioned the Invisible Hand for the first time ever, starting a (thought) revolution!

Welcome to another episode of the Curiosity Corner, where hungry minds get a little extra!