Learning Money with Leo – App Review & Giveaway

I am thrilled to have the opportunity to write about something so important: money!  Surprised? It’s not necessarily something people like to talk about, but it is very important to discuss it with your children. I’m sure some of you are thinking, ‘well, not when they are so young’. And to that response I have to disagree.

As soon as my first child was old enough to ask for something, I felt it was important to discuss how that ‘something’ gets to us.  Last summer, we had a garage sale. It was a huge undertaking and one of the challenges was to explain to my three children what we were doing and why. Each year when we have our garage sale, we also give to a charity. That was another aspect of our weekend. And if that wasn’t enough, we also decided it was time for our oldest to have his very first lemonade stand. At first he didn’t really ‘get’ the idea. But it didn’t take long before he was yelling out “Lemonade and cookies!” at the top of his lungs. After the garage sale was over, we let him keep his earnings. In the evening, we strolled to the local ice cream shop, and to our glorious surprise, he didn’t just pay for his ice cream, he wanted to pay for all of our ice cream. I was a proud mama!

I know some of you might think it unnecessary to teach kids before they can hardly reach over a cash counter how to spend money, but hear me out. Children are living in an age of instant gratification for the most part. It’s not at all like it was for us when we were young, or how it was for our parents. I didn’t have an allowance until I was a pre-teen, and I got my first cell phone when I was in college!

Now kids have smart phones, gift cards and possibly the access to a family account giving them the ability to purchase instantly. So, teaching little ones while they are little is key. That’s why RBC has come out with this really cute and fun application called Learning Money with Leo. The app is available in French and English on iTunes and is totally free. The app is geared to children six years old and under to provide them with an introduction to the concepts and value of money. Earning, saving and spending money are all touched upon in this app. Until now, my children had yet to really play an app. I am a big fan of the iPad and my children love seeing little cartoons and such, but so far that machine is for Mama and Papa MOE. So my oldest (who is four and a half) was thrilled to feel like a big boy and get the chance to play a game just for him.

I was a tad sceptical about the age level for the app, since I have seen popular apps for children that seem way too bright, loud and fast. The Learning Money with Leo app is really perfect for young children. There are five games in total, as well as a read-along story and a colouring book. Each game is explained (each time) to help children understand what they have to do. There is constant positive reinforcement from Leo the lion. My guy was very pleased with himself when Leo gave him a “way to go!” or a “good job!”.  For each completed game, your child earns a coin. When they are ready, they can go to their personal sticker book. There, they can use their coins to buy the virtual stickers for their sticker page. Each sticker costs one coin. Children have the choice of three different sticker pages, and three different collections of themed stickers.   

My little one’s masterpiece!

My son was very happy to play each game (his favourite was the maze game), hear the story and he absolutely loved the colouring pages. But when it came time to show him about the sticker book, I wasn’t sure he understood what it would mean to buy the stickers and then run out of coins before he was done his sticker page. Boy, was I wrong! I just needed to explain to him once that he could earn more coins by playing the games again, and he was off collecting more coins! He really got the concept quickly and enjoyed how he could earn the coins to buy his stickers.

Our next step will be to open up a real RBC account! The RBC Leo’s Young SaversAccount is perfect for him. It was my very first account too!

I was very happy to share this app with my little one and I think you will be too! Visit iTunes to download your free Learning Money with Leo app. For more tips on teaching your children about money, visit the RBC Advice Centre.

Made in the colouring book
Giveaway!
RBC has offered a chance to win a RBC Visa card valued at $50! How great is that?! To participate in this giveaway, simply leave a comment below telling me why you think it’s important to teach young children about the value of money (be sure to leave me your e-mail so I can reach you if you win!).
Additional Entries:
  • Follow @AskMamaMOE on Twitter
  • You may retweet this post once a day with the hashtag #MoneywithLeo
  • Share this post in another creative way and let me know about it

You may enter across multiple blogs (some other wonderful blogging mamas are writing about this too!) but you may only win one prize.

This giveaway closes April 20th and is available to Canadian residents only.
Good luck to everyone and I hope you enjoy playing this app with your little ones!
Disclosure – I am participating in the RBC Learning Money With Leo program by Mom Central Canada on behalf of RBC Royal Bank.  I received compensation as a thank you for participating and for sharing my honest opinion. The opinions on this blog are my own.

 

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87 comments

Sweet Panda March 29, 2012 at 4:41 am

I think it’s important because it can provide them with a good foundation as to money concept and get them to understand not to over-spending and in debt when they grow up

sweetpanda2010 at gmail dot com

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Sweet Panda March 29, 2012 at 4:41 am

Follow @AskMamaMOE on Twitter (@PandaSweetSweet)

sweetpanda2010 at gmail dot com

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Sweet Panda March 29, 2012 at 4:44 am Reply
Sweet Panda March 30, 2012 at 5:58 am Reply
flowerchild March 30, 2012 at 2:24 pm

I think it is important so they are responsible with money, and they learn to save for what they want.
Thanks
flower_child_23(at)hotmail(dot)com

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flowerchild March 30, 2012 at 2:25 pm

I Follow @AskMamaMOE on Twitter
(@flower_child_23)
flower_child_23(at)hotmail(dot)com

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flowerchild March 30, 2012 at 2:26 pm Reply
flowerchild March 30, 2012 at 2:26 pm

shared on facebook
http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=419478364733091&id=530090822
flower_child_23(at)hotmail(dot)com

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Sweet Panda March 31, 2012 at 5:36 am Reply
flowerchild April 1, 2012 at 1:27 pm

daily tweet
https://twitter.com/#!/flower_child_23/status/186443955045531648
flower_child_23(at)hotmail(dot)com

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Carolynn Gomez April 2, 2012 at 12:20 am

One of the most important things you can teach your children while they’re young is the value of money.
They need to understand about hard work & responsibility (we teach this with chores/allowance) in making money; that everything they own was not free.

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Carolynn Gomez April 2, 2012 at 12:20 am

Following you on twitter: @CarolAuCourant

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Glogirl April 2, 2012 at 2:39 am

I think it’s important to teach kids about money as it lays the foundation for future responsible money management. Teaching kids the basics of budgeting now will go a long way in the future when they handle larger amounts of money.

ajmizen(at)hotmail(dot)com

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Glogirl April 2, 2012 at 2:41 am

I am following you on Twitter @glogirl3

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flowerchild April 2, 2012 at 7:36 pm

daily tweet
https://twitter.com/#!/flower_child_23/status/186899696546103296
flower_child_23(at)hotmail(dot)com

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flowerchild April 3, 2012 at 2:27 pm

daily tweet
https://twitter.com/#!/flower_child_23/status/187184257368719360
flower_child_23(at)hotmail(dot)com

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Sweet Panda April 4, 2012 at 1:47 am Reply
Sweet Panda April 4, 2012 at 8:40 am Reply
flowerchild April 4, 2012 at 6:30 pm

daily tweet
https://twitter.com/#!/flower_child_23/status/187607854327406592
flower_child_23(at)hotmail(dot)com

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Belinda M April 5, 2012 at 2:05 am

I think it is important to teach them about money so that they can take it over into adulthood. Teach them to look for deals, not to impulse buy and to save money.

bluebelle0367(at)hotmail(dot)com

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Belinda M April 5, 2012 at 2:05 am

I follow you on twitter as Prairiebelle

bluebelle0367(at)hotmail(dot)com

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Belinda M April 5, 2012 at 2:06 am

tweeted

https://twitter.com/#!/Prairiebelle/status/187722795499782145

bluebelle0367(at)hotmail(dot)com

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Sweet Panda April 5, 2012 at 5:13 am Reply
Sweet Panda April 6, 2012 at 5:11 am Reply
binabug April 9, 2012 at 2:13 am

Kids need to know the difference between wanting things and needing things, cus once they hit college, they’ll need to know they should eat first and buy that xbox360 game last

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Sweet Panda April 9, 2012 at 1:26 pm Reply
Sweet Panda April 10, 2012 at 1:11 pm Reply
flowerchild April 10, 2012 at 2:56 pm

daily tweet
https://twitter.com/#!/flower_child_23/status/189728121778483200
flower_child_23(at)hotmail(dot)com

Reply
Sweet Panda April 11, 2012 at 1:36 pm Reply
flowerchild April 11, 2012 at 2:09 pm

daily tweet
https://twitter.com/#!/flower_child_23/status/190078863332737025
flower_child_23(at)hotmail(dot)com

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Bree April 11, 2012 at 4:53 pm

I want my kids to understand the value of money so they can have an easier future. You have to work to make money, and save for things you want!

breej23 at hotmail dot com

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Bree April 11, 2012 at 4:53 pm

follow on twitter (@freebreeluv)

breej23 at hotmail dot com

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Bree April 11, 2012 at 4:55 pm Reply
Sweet Panda April 12, 2012 at 11:36 am Reply
flowerchild April 12, 2012 at 6:37 pm

daily tweet
https://twitter.com/#!/flower_child_23/status/190508494758232064
flower_child_23(at)hotmail(dot)com

Reply
Sweet Panda April 13, 2012 at 11:34 am Reply
flowerchild April 13, 2012 at 2:15 pm

daily tweet
https://twitter.com/#!/flower_child_23/status/190805249638936576
flower_child_23(at)hotmail(dot)com

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binabug April 15, 2012 at 1:03 am Reply
Sweet Panda April 15, 2012 at 2:33 am Reply
Lori's Place April 15, 2012 at 3:31 am

I think it is so important to teach our children about money because our society is going into so much personal debt. We need to teach them how to stay out of it. loriagalbraith at gmail dot com

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Lori's Place April 15, 2012 at 3:34 am

Following @AskMamaMOE on Twitter @loriagalbraith
loriagalbraith at gmail dot ocm

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Lori's Place April 15, 2012 at 3:35 am

You may retweet this post once a day with the hashtag #MoneywithLeo
loriagalbraith at gmail dot ocm
https://twitter.com/#!/loriagalbraith/status/191368434309799936

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Lori's Place April 15, 2012 at 3:35 am

You may retweet this post once a day with the hashtag #MoneywithLeo
loriagalbraith at gmail dot ocm
https://twitter.com/#!/loriagalbraith/status/191368434309799936

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Lori's Place April 15, 2012 at 3:35 am

Share this post in another creative way and let me know about it
loriagalbraith at gmail dot ocm
http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=228380767268757&id=100002259137965

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Sweet Panda April 15, 2012 at 12:52 pm Reply
Bree April 15, 2012 at 7:30 pm Reply
Sweet Panda April 16, 2012 at 1:59 pm Reply
Lori's Place April 16, 2012 at 3:10 pm Reply
Sweet Panda April 17, 2012 at 1:08 pm Reply
flowerchild April 17, 2012 at 11:00 pm

daily tweet
https://twitter.com/#!/flower_child_23/status/192386808598888450
flower_child_23(at)hotmail(dot)com

Reply
Sweet Panda April 18, 2012 at 1:27 pm Reply
flowerchild April 18, 2012 at 11:43 pm

daily tweet
https://twitter.com/#!/flower_child_23/status/192759938941075456
flower_child_23(at)hotmail(dot)com

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Sweet Panda April 19, 2012 at 6:13 pm Reply
flowerchild April 20, 2012 at 1:39 pm

daily tweet
https://twitter.com/#!/flower_child_23/status/193332770246885376
flower_child_23(at)hotmail(dot)com

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Sweet Panda April 20, 2012 at 1:40 pm Reply

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