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How many have better budgeting as their New Year's resolution? What about getting out of debt? As with many things, these skills are best learned when young. Here are some tips to help parents make their children more financially savvy.

Play to learn

The best way to teach a young child anything is by making it into a game. So the first top tip from Lemonade Money is to play 'shops' at home, by getting a toy cash register and some pretend money and grocery items and making a game out of grocery shopping. This teaches an important lesson about the value of the items your children use, and hopefully prepares them for behaving well at the grocery store.

Another such educational game could be to play 'restaurant', where you combine a nice (pretend) cooking and eating experience with a bill, helping children learn to count out money to get to the right amount, and again teaching them that there is a certain value to things they might otherwise take for granted.

Games can also be practical. Another fun tip is to ask toddlers to help cut out coupons or vouchers, carefully of course, and then play 'I spy' with them at the supermarket to spot the discounted products. This will help them recognise the fun of finding discounts, while helping you make use of discounts and keeping them happily distracted at the same time.

Save to play

Piggy banks never go out of fashion. Set a savings goal, such as for a new toy or special treat, and then watch as your child starts putting money into their piggy bank and realises the use – and hopefully fun – of saving. Some parents even go so far as to give their child several savings pots: one to save for the long term (with savings after a while possibly being put into a children's savings account to gain interest), one to spend on toys, and one to spend on donations to charities.

If you do set up a children's savings account, make sure to show your child how much money and interest is accumulating, so they can fully understand what is happening to their money. Chances are, they will be so happy to see their funds increasing that they will keep up the habit for a long time.

This saving goes hand in hand with pocket money, so why not add some incentive by making (some) pocket money dependent upon chores, or simply rewarding good behaviour. If your child is still quite young, you might want to start with stickers as incentives, which can have just as much value (or more) as cash. In contrast, it might be safer to give older children perks instead of cash, such as mobile phone top-ups for good behaviour or video game credits for completing chores.

While some parents might feel that having small jobs could distract their kids from school, they tend to be an important part of teaching children the value of money. And considering that the Money Advice Service has reported that children's money habits are formed by the age of seven, while financial education is not mandatory in schools until they're 11, some small extra earnings might be a decent way to compensate for a lack of financial education at school. Certainly, working outside of the home for an income prompts prudent money management and addresses concerns that two-thirds of 16/17 year-olds cannot read a payslip and a third have never put money into a bank account.

With no financial education in primary schools, parents must lead by example and help their children develop good money skills. These learnt behaviours will be invaluable in helping young adults make decisions on everyday issues such as tuition fees, student loans, credit cards and phone contracts etc.,

Get into the habit

So why not get your child into the habit, and open a children's savings account or Junior ISA for them? Even a small amount of savings could add up in the long run, and the good habit alone can make it more than worth it.