By Kim Hilsenbeck

A near endless array of camps keep students active and alert over the summer, including topics such as fitness, horseback riding, art, theater, sports and finances.

Say again?

That’s right, A+ Federal Credit Union in Buda offered a financial camp for children in grades second through sixth. Created and led by Kelsey Balcaitis six years ago, the camp offers a youth appropriate view of money and finances. 

She and her colleagues addressed issues related to budgeting, saving, debt, spending, interest, loans, mortgages, the stock market and stocks, financial goals and more. 

In small groups, the campers learned about being an entrepreneur. They created a product idea that would make a household chore easier. The group members collaborated on the product concept and built a prototype. 

The winning team was the Cool Cats for their product, the Laundry Doer. The winners each received a $50 Visa gift card.

How did their invention work?

The clothes went from the washer into the dryer automatically. As if that wasn’t good enough, they decided the dryer would also have a mechanism to fold the laundry, too.

(We know several moms who would buy that machine.)

On the final day of camp, Balcaitis asked campers about their experience.

“What surprised you the most?” she asked.

Campers said they were surprised to see how much it cost to buy groceries each week. In fact, they seemed taken aback by how much many things cost, including childcare, clothing and gas.

“Could you get everything you wanted?” Balcaitis asked the group. 

“No!” they shouted back to her.

One camper said, “You can’t buy everything you want because it costs moula.”

Balcaitis used games, puzzles, activities, discussions and group projects to help the children understand financial concepts, such as the difference between a want vs. a need.

They also learned about “opportunity cost”, which is deciding between one option and the next best or foregone opportunity — it’s the one you don’t choose. A camper gave an example that Balcaitis used to illustrate the concept earlier in the week.

“Say you want to buy a video game and it’s $20,” she said. “And your friends ask you to go to the movies, which costs $18. So if you buy the video game, the movie is your opportunity cost.”

A big part of the camp was learning about saving money. Balcaitis asked the campers about what they recalled from the lessons.

“If we want to go to Paris, we have to save for it,” a camper said.

She also encouraged them to make what she called SMART money decisions, using an acronym to help them remember. It stands for:

Specific

Measureable 

Achievable 

Realistic

Timely