Teaching taxes to the youngest learners
Of course taxes are serious business. They pay for grownup stuff like infrastructure, security, healthcare, schools and social safety nets. But taxes can be child’s play too!
It’s never too early to teach children about taxes. What’s important is that the lessons involve themes or topics that children can relate to.
Since children are naturally creative, a great lesson is one that can spark curiosity and inspire imagination. Tax education doesn’t need to be treated differently. This is where the TAXEDU portal can help.
Find below five TAXEDU tips that can ensure the youngest students have fun learning simple tax-related concepts.
Tip 1: Keep it simple
Taxes may be for grownups, but they finance so many childhood treasures. Young learners may be surprised to find out about tax collection and why it’s necessary to ensure revenues are collected to fund governmental services – from repaving our roads, building new schools and keeping our parks and recreational areas tidy and maintained.
Tip 2: Make it relevant
Introduce young learners to Oliver, TAXEDU’s 11-year old hero who wonders how taxes pay for his favourite playground. Oliver’s questions about tax collection are a starting point to a bigger discussion. For example, taxes ensure children may ride their bicycle along a smooth path. Schools are another great topic since students have access to so many resources and facilities. They may also spend recess in playgrounds built for the school.
Tip 3: Watch and learn
Meet 2QT. This cute robot from space travelled to Earth to design and sell rocket propelled shoes. Children can follow his tax adventures through entertaining video clips.
Tip 4: Check the receipt
Grownups aren’t the only ones who pay taxes. Next time children buy a treat from their local candy store, they should be prompted to check the receipt. They’ll see exactly how much tax they paid.
Tip 5: Play the game
There’s an app to make learning about taxes easy and fun. Designed by the European Union for children growing in the Digital Age, Taxlandia is an educational SimCity-style computer game. It’s a fun way to understand tax mechanisms and how taxes are collected.
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