A new fun and interactive website known as Moneyville, which is aimed at boosting financial literacy skills among five to seven-year-olds, has been launched and introduced to pupils at St Patrick's Primary School in Mullanskea.
Moneyville is a virtual town where children are introduced to the most basic money management skills through a range of fun online games. With a range of characters such as Penny the Shopkeeper, the Mayor of Moneyville and a friendly Wizard, children earn gold and silver coins by completing tasks which can be used to buy items in the Moneyville shop. It is the first website of its kind in Northern Europe and has been created to complement Northern Ireland's school curriculum.
Principal Louise O'Niell, said the activities in Moneyville would help children at foundation stage and key stage one to begin to learn about the value of money and the importance of saving in a fun and interactive way.
"As well as being fun for children, this resource also supports both parents and teachers with ideas for encouraging financial confidence from an early age, enabling learning both at home and in the classroom."
Moneyville has been launched following research commissioned by Northern Bank which shows that Northern Ireland children as young as five are interested in money and influence what their parents buy. The survey results also revealed that Northern Ireland children start to ask questions about money from as young as four or five years old and have a great deal of influence on what their family buys - but that they don't know where money comes from or understand the value of it.
Denise Ferguson, Branch Manager at Northern Bank Enniskillen said she believed teaching children basic financial literacy skills could help: "Children are aware of money at a early age and the research shows that 64% of children often ask questions about money and its value. Therefore it's not surprising that over 90% of parents believe their children would benefit from learning more about money and 75% would find it helpful to have access to information to discuss and explore the basics of money with their children."
