Using financial board games in teaching financial literacy at general secondary education institutions

The article substantiates the ways of using educational games to teach financial literacy at level of secondary school in Ukraine. The methodology of conducting original financial games is described in brief and the influence of the latter on shaping a financially literate next generation is proved. The article presents an overview of the «Ponzi Scheme» board game, which was created to provide children with a clear explanation of Ponzi schemes and risks of monetary losses inherent to such illegal means of moneymaking. It is established that in addition to important educational aspects, the children develop a habit of making informed financial decisions in the course of playing. Research has shown that nowadays fraudsters have become so convincing that it is very difficult to distinguish between them from the real employees of financial institutions. The «Financial Fraudsters» board game enables players to learn specific communicative skills necessary to avoid various types of financial fraud, therefore the authors substantiate the methodology of enacting it. The article considers the peculiarities of playing the «Economy is Alive» board game, which is designed to demonstrate the human impact on the environment and the need for conservation of resources. The game makes it possible to master the comprehension of the relationships between objects and phenomena and creates the basis for environmentally conscious upbringing of children by satisfying their curiosity and involving them in active observation of the environment. Approbation of these games has shown that they organically combine the theory that makes learning exciting and the practice that clarifies the knowledge acquired by the educational process participants. In view of the research results, it is determined that under modern conditions edutainment must become a significant supplement to the classical methods of teaching financial literacy within the system of general secondary education in Ukraine.