Special thanks to our guest contributors, Alexandria Halmbacher and Lakisha Higgins, from the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland! 

National Financial Literacy Month provides a great opportunity for us, as educators, to teach students about the importance of being financial literate. Studies indicate that individuals with higher levels of financial literacy education make better personal finance decisions. Here are 9 ways the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland can support you with celebrating Financial Literacy Month in the classroom.

1. Participate in Battle of the Classrooms
   Battle of the Classrooms provides 4th and 5th grade classes with the opportunity to learn financial literacy skills centered around spending, saving, and budgeting. Classrooms will complete different tasks throughout the month in preparation for a closing event. For more information on how to participate, visit our website.
2. Attend a $how me the Money Educator Professional Development
   Sign-up for a half hour session on April 6th that will highlight the FREE financial literacy resources for grades K-12 from the Federal Reserve System. Register today!
3. Spring into $tory Time
   There will be a total of five live virtual story times for students in grades K-3 throughout the month of April. Each story time is 30 minutes. Registered educators will receive follow-up lessons to continue the learning experience. Sign-up today.
4. Play the Save and Spend Challenge Online Game
   The Save and Spend Challenge online game tasks participants with building a budget for a character and then analyzing that character’s financial choices to discover how their saving, spending, and budgeting habits can affect their financial outcomes. Do you have what it takes to play Save and Spend Challenge?
5. Complete the Great Minds Think Activity Workbook
   Learn how to think about smart and sometimes hard choices about money. Follow Matt, Nisa, and Lin as they learn about earning, saving, budgeting, and more. Each page includes a basic lesson on money management followed by an exercise that reinforces the lesson. Great Minds Think is free to order or download and is available in English or Spanish.
6. Play the Great Minds Think Online Game
   Use your web browser, mobile device, or tablet to play along with Monte the squirrel, our money expert, as he navigates how to make smart choices about money and teaches important lesson about personal finance topics. Great Minds Think is available in English and Spanish.
7. Participate in a Virtual Financial Literacy Program
   Schedule a virtual financial literacy program with one of our experienced educators. Programs are available Monday through Friday to K-12 students and cover topics such as credit cards, budgeting, saving, investing, inflation, and more. Sign-up today!
8. Search FederalReserveEducation.org
   The Federal Reserve System provides K-12 educators with thousands of free resources that span a variety of topics and resource types including lesson plans, videos, games, activities, infographics and more. Visit FederalReserveEducation.org today!
9. Visit the Cleveland Fed’s Financial Literacy Homepage
   Explore more free resources and activities on the Cleveland Fed’s Financial Literacy homepage, which includes a host of suggestions for how you can celebrate Financial Literacy Month in your classroom.