Looking for creative ways to give money to a teenager? These ideas will make your cash gifts totally exciting (and unique).
Teenagers love to get cash. And it makes sense – when you have money, you can spend it on the things that YOU prioritize, and the savings goals that you have.
But giving cash can be boring.
That’s why I’ve put together this list of creative ways to give money to a teenager – use these ideas for birthdays, graduation gifts, new teen driver gifts, Christmas, and, really, any occasion where you’ll be giving money.
Creative Ways to Give Money to a Teenager
Let's get creative with how you gift money to a teen!
1. Create a DIY Hidden Gift Jar
Cool idea alert: fill a mason jar with their favorite candy, and hide the cash inside of it!
Hint: since money can be quite germy and dirty, I would personally put the money into a small plastic bag before placing it into the candy. But that's just me! She uses tubes and that works, too.
2-5. Make them Solve a Puzzle to Get their Cash
What’s more motivating to solve a puzzle than knowing there’s a cash bonus at the end for your prize?
Here are some cool money puzzle ideas for teens:
Cosmic Pinball Money Maze
Your recipient will have to shoot three balls into the slot at the end of the lightening bolt in order to access their cash!
Trap Cash in a Chinese Finger Trap
While not made to hold cash, this can still be a fun way to gift cash to a teenager. You’ll get to watch them fiddle about as they first insert their fingers into one of these…and then figure out that there’s cash rolled into the middle of it…and then try to actually get it out (without a pair of tweezers!).
Money Maze Box
Put money into this money maze box, and let them “work” their way towards it.
Puzzle Pod Junior
Here’s yet another cool money puzzle – but with this one, you come up with the code they need to solve, then feed them a few clues to help them get there.
Puzzle Mini-Pod Cryptex
Wow – this is such a cool-looking gift (with cash as the prize, too! Gift cards also fit). This is a re-settable puzzle (one additional time) for any five-letter word that you choose. You give them clues, and they work through them in order to release their money.
6. Make a Money Cracker
Have you ever heard of Christmas Crackers? They’re English festive tubs that you pull from each side to pop open, revealing gifts, confetti, or really, whatever you want to stash in them!
So…why not stash cash for your teen inside one?
You can find fillable ones on Etsy.
Also, here’s a tutorial for how to make this yourself (just use non-Christmas decorations, of course):
7. Give them Cash to Buy a Share of Stock, Inside a Stock Kit
There’s this really neat thing called The Shareholder Kit for tweens and teens. Not only does it teach a child about investing in the stock market (in a very down-to-earth way), but you get a $20 discount on a single stock purchase.
SO, you can gift them this book with some cash for seed money, and then help them (they’ll need an adult) to complete their stock purchase!
8. Put into Gold-Foiled Envelopes
These gold-foiled money envelopes are really eye-catching. At least, they caught my eye!
9. Gift a Savings Match Promise with an Oversized Piggy Bank
One of the things we want our teens to learn is to save money, right?
How about you gift them this gigantic Coca-Cola piggy bank (my grandmother has one – they're super cool), and then tell the teen that you'll give them a certain amount of time to fill it with all the change and dollars they can.
At the end of that time period? You'll match whatever savings they have.
This could be 3 months, 6 months, a year…however long you'd like to go (to give you an idea, my grandmother filled hers completely over the period of several years, and ended up with over $800 when she cashed it in).
10. Gift them Cash Envelopes for Kids
Did you know that there are sets of cash envelopes for kids and teens (using the Dave Ramsey envelop budgeting system)?
You can introduce them to this new budgeting concept, buy them some cool-looking envelopes, and then stash a full budget inside of them to get them started on their budgeting journey.
A few teen-styled cash envelopes to choose from:
11. Hide the Money in a Financial Literacy Book
You could put it popping up from the front page, OR, actually hide it later on in the book so that they have to read it (errrr, at least skim it) before they find their surprise.
Here are 3 teen money books I recommend and have read myself:
- Not Your Parent’s Money Book
- Rich Dad, Poor Dad For Teens
- The Motley Fool Investment Guide for Teens
Check out my review (plus additional money lessons) for 29 different money books for kids and teens, broken down by age.
12. Tuck it in a New Wallet or Purse
I still remember being awestruck, as a teenager, when I watched that scene from Terms of Endearment where the aunt gives the teenage/young adult daughter a beautiful new wallet…and she looks inside and shockingly pulls out $1,000.
How fun to gift both a purse or wallet to your teen, AND, to fill it with some cash.
Here’s a very sturdy, outdoor wallet for teen boys. And here’s a super-cute wallet for teen girls with tons of designs to choose from.
In fact, in some cultures, it’s also seen as good luck (my grandmother, who is Hungarian, told me to never gift a purse or wallet without stashing a coin inside).
13. Create a Money Notepad for Them
Here's a really neat idea that I never would've thought of: you can take real dollar bills, and create a money notepad with them!
You'll need padding compound, a wad of dollar bills, a glue brush, a paper trimmer, and some binder clips.
What a creative way to give money to someone.
Personally, I'm going to check out those money puzzles as a new way to creatively gift money to a teenager. Which one are you most excited about?
Amanda L. Grossman
Latest posts by Amanda L. Grossman (see all)
- 59 Journal Topics for High School (Wish I’d Had these as a Teen!) - January 23, 2023
- 23 Cool, Small Prize Ideas for Students (Middle & High School) - January 17, 2023
- 9 Examples of Reward Systems in the Classroom (by Teachers) - January 4, 2023
