Monopoly summer camp will teach kids financial lessons

A summer camp themed around the classic board game Monopoly will reportedly teach kids how to better manage their money.

The Monopoly’s Money Matters Financial Literacy Camp will supposedly provide its visitors with “fun” ways of learning about economics and business strategy via the family board game. Organised by Varsity Tutors, in association with the publisher behind Monopoly and several other classic board games – Hasbro - the summer camp will bring Monopoly to “life” through lessons and “Monopoly-based simulations” designed to teach such exciting topics as “marketing and entrepreneurship, economics and business strategy.”

Taking place for around two hours over the course of a week, and costing $250 per camper, the Monopoly summer camp will see an instructor take children through various interactive activities focused on a new financial topic each time. During the camp, the kids will learn to “develop their own Monopoly ‘house rules’,” as well as “properties, cards and strategies” to use.

At the end of every daily session, the campers can then enter the “Camp Clubhouse” for “even more monetary activities,” such as completing quizzes and printable activities.

In the press release for the Monopoly Money Matters camp, it is highlighted that, according to a survey by the US National Endowment for Financial Education, that 88% of adults believe their state should require either a semester or year-long personal finance course for graduation. A study by the Investor Education Foundation that found US adults had “low levels” of financial literacy, was also included in the press release.

Considering Monopoly’s reputation for encouraging players to push others into bankruptcy in the pursuit of personal wealth – alongside its heavy reliance upon luck and long history of players cheating – makes the use of the board game as a theme for a financial literacy and education camp an interesting one.

Monopoly is a classic tabletop game that has players becoming burgeoning real estate tycoons, travelling across the board to acquire new properties and demanding rent from any players that land there. Player movement is decided by a dice roll, with players being able to purchase any available property that they land on as long as they have the funds to do so.

Though there are always a few debates on how to play Monopoly, the basic rules are as follows. If a player ever owns every property in a colour-set then they’ll be able to buy and place houses or hotels on those board spaces, thereby increasing the amount of rent their opponents will have to pay should they ever land on them. Whichever player is either the last one standing – after all their opponents have fallen bankrupt – or they have the most wealth in money and property by the time the group wants to end the game.

The Monopoly’s Money Matters Financial Literacy Camp will take place throughout June, July and August 2022, with camp supporting children from ages nine to 17.