It is never too early to teach your children about the value of saving and giving money. If you start when they are young, they will always have the practice of saving money, budgeting and giving to charity. No matter what their age from two years old to teenagers, there are some basic things that you can do to encourage them to do this.

Start by buying your child three piggy banks. If they are young, get them to help you pick one out. If they are older, you can help them make a bank or take them to a paint your own pottery place to decorate them. Label one bank save, one spend and one give. You should also open a bank account for them so that they can periodically deposit the "save" money into their account as well as larger gifts of money and they can watch their bank account grow.

Each time they get an allowance, you should help them break the money into three groups. You can do this however you want to such as breaking it into thirds or putting 10% in give, 40% in save and 50% in spend. As they get older, they can help determine how the money will be divided.

For the "give" bank, have your child help choose where they want to donate the money. They might choose church. If they love animals, they could give the money to a local animal shelter or use it to purchase food for the shelter. They could buy diapers for an agency that helps new Moms or food for a homeless shelter. Sometimes using the money to buy material items to donate helps children better understand how important their money is to different organizations and exactly how they have helped someone.

The "save" bank can also be broken into long term and short term saving. Some of the money could be saved for college or a car when they are older. However, it is also fun to have them save money for an item that they really want such as an article of clothing or a toy. This teaches them the importance of budgeting money. If there is something that they really want, they might choose to put more money in the "save" bank and less in the "spend" bank. They might also just choose to not use the "spend" money for a few weeks until they spend it on what the really want.

However you choose to spend, save or give, make it a family affair and make it fun for your children. Include them in all the decision making since it is their money, but don't forget that you are the parent and you have the final say if they are not saving or giving wisely. If you can start them on the spend, save, give process at a young age, it will be a habit and value that they will carry with them into adulthood and one that they can pass onto their children.