Saving for children should be encouraged before they are old enough to understand what saving means. Turning it into a game and using savings banks that look like toys or TV characters is a good way to gain their interest from a very young age. Once the game of putting coins in slots has been established and they are old enough to know what money is, the habit has been adopted.
From a few months of age, children become fascinated with certain toys or cartoons and manufacturers have used this to expand their production lines. There are models to reflect every cartoon or toy you can think of. The models that are more likely to succeed are the ones that talk, sing or move and have more novelty appeal to the child.
Piggy banks have been popular for a great many years. They have been adapted by organizations involved in collecting for charity to use for fund raising. They can be found anywhere in the world. Children are attracted to slots in boxes and always want to put something into the slots. So charity boxes help to build the child's association with piggy banks.
Giving a reward for reaching a target is a good way keep children interested and enthusiastic about saving. Achieving the target promotes a sense of well being and pride. Success should always be praised. Targets have to be reasonable and fair for the child to be encouraged.
Children are often given sums of money throughout the year which they can be encouraged to add to their savings. Watching their savings grow can in itself be an incentive for the child. Especially when added to savings they were given when they were born it can add up to a small fortune if left to grow.
To establish a habit of saving in childhood that will continue on through to adult life, parents should set a good example. Putting all their loose change into a box or bank and letting a child do it for them helps to instill the practice of saving into the child's life style.