Learning Money with Leo App - $50 RBC VISA Gift Card Giveaway

Chelsea received her first piggy bank for Christmas, that was her first real interaction with money, which she simply called "coins" at first, because that's what it is called in one of her favourite books. Over time we have been trying to teach her the value of money and how it is a big responsibility. She's not quite 3 yet, so she doesn't get an allowance, but once she understands money a bit more, we will have to start I'm sure!  This new app from RBC Royal Bank is getting her that much closer.

I was really excited when I was selected by Mom Central Canada to participate in the RBC Learning Money with Leo program.  Learning Money with Leo is a new iPad app from RBC Royal Bank that is especially for kiddos under 6 and was put together by the bank, early childhood education experts and parents.  The app was designed to:

– Provide kids with an introduction to the concepts and value of money

– Teach kids about earning, saving and spending money

– Help kids develop a foundation of basic money skills that they can build upon in the years to come

To locate the free iPad app, simply go into the iTunes App Store while on your iPad and search for "Learning Money with Leo"  Once you download the app (which is available in both English and French), you can easily create user profiles for your kids (and their friends too... they'll want to play when they see it, trust me).  Once you create a user profile, you can select from 8 fun activities and Chelsea went to the Colouring Book right away.

I loved that the pictures in the colouring book were simple and really loved how the page was set up.  Chelsea was easily able to change colours and never once got frustrated, which she has with some other kids apps...  this one is very easy to navigate and use.

Once Chelsea would let me back at the iPad, we tried out Gather the Coins, which is a fun game with a space motif... the goal is to gather as much money as you can.

Chelsea soon got bored with collecting money, but I'm sure older kids would love this game.  All she wanted to do was 'colour de piggy pweeze'.

Eventually she decided to try a new game and we selected the Read-Along Story, which was called "The Smart Cents Kids", it was a fun interactive story... but we soon went back to, you guessed it, colouring.  By playing the different activities, your kids can earn coins, which they can use to buy their own stickers for their very own virtual sticker book.

This is one of the best app for preschoolers I have ever come across... and because it can help instil such essential life-skills, it is just that much better.  Can you tell, I love this app!?

There are more tips on how to start teaching your children the value of money at:

http://www.rbcadvicecentre.com and

http://www.rbcroyalbank.com/learning-money-with-leo/index.html

For your chance to win a $50 RBC VISA Gift Card, please do the following:

Mandatory Entry:

Leave a comment, telling me how and at what age you started teaching your children about the value of money.

Additional Entries (you must leave separate comments for each entry, and please make sure I can reach you if you win, leaving your email address in comments if necessary):

• Follow Mmm... is for Mommy on Facebook (leave first name, last initial)
• Follow Mmm... is for Mommy on Twitter (leave Twitter handle)
• Tweet about my Giveaway on Twitter - Enter to Win a $50 RBC VISA GC with @mmmisformommy #MoneywithLeo http://ow.ly/9KShe  (leave status URL) DAILY ENTRY
• Follow Mmm... is for Mommy via RSS
• Follow RBC Royal Bank on Facebook (leave first name, last initial)
• Follow RBC Royal Bank on Twitter (leave Twitter handle)
• Leave a comment on any of my recipe posts (tell me which recipe)

This contest is open to residents of Canada only.  Contest is open until 11:59PM AST April 17th, 2012.   I will email the winner on April 18th, 2012 and they will have 24 hours to email me back with their info or another winner will be selected.  I'll select winner by using the random number generator at random.org.  Similar giveaways are currently being sponsored on other blogs.  While you can enter on each blog, you can only win one prize.  Mom Central Canada will send the prize to the winner within 4-6 weeks... I will be forwarding your contact info to them for mailing purposes only.

Contest is closed.

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.