Teaching Tips for Lesson 14: Small Choices Add Up

This is the fourteenth of seventeen blogs providing practical teaching tips inspired by the lyrics and concepts from the Sammy Rabbit song Get in the Habit!

In the original blog, How the Sammy Rabbit Song Get in the Habit Teaches Kids 17 Money Lessons — Plus Powerful Vocabulary, we explored how the song supports financial education in three powerful ways:

Through clear, repeatable phrases directly from the song
Through real-world money lessons that naturally emerge when kids discuss and apply those phrases or concepts
Through everyday money language that builds financial vocabulary.

Now, we’re expanding on that foundation with a series of blogs that offer teaching tips for each of the 17 individual lessons embedded in the song. Each blog will include: (1) Simple questions to ignite discussion and learning (2) Two easy-to-implement micro-activities (3) A challenge action step (4) Key words to build personal finance and life-skills vocabulary.

Let’s begin with Lesson 14. It's inspired by and derived from the song's lyrics.

You can click on the following links to find: song lyrics and a karaoke Video.

Summary

Lesson: Discuss how daily decisions or choices shape long-term outcomes. Every small choice—saving a little, waiting before spending, or thinking before buying—adds up over time. When children understand that even tiny decisions can move them closer to or farther from their goals, they become more thoughtful and confident money decision-makers.

Share with kids: Small choices you make every day matter. Saving a little or making a smart choice again and again helps you reach big goals over time.

1. Simple Discussion Questions

Use one or two—short, easy, and great for home or classroom conversations.

What is a choice?
Do small choices really matter?
What is one small money choice you make?
How can one small choice help you reach a big goal?
What happens when you make the same choice again and again?

2. Two Micro-Activities (2–5 Minutes Each)

---Micro-Activity 1: Little Choice, Big Path

Materials: None

Give kids simple choice pairs and ask them to point left or right.

Examples:

Save one coin or spend it right away
Think before buying or buy without thinking
Wait a little or rush

Ask:

Which choice helps you more later?
What happens if you make that choice many times?

Purpose: Helps kids see how daily decisions shape long-term outcomes.

---Micro-Activity 2: My Daily Choice

Materials: Paper and crayons (optional)

Ask kids to:

Draw or name one small choice they can make each day (saving, waiting, thinking)
Draw a simple arrow showing how that choice moves them closer to a goal

Have them say:

“Small choices add up!”

Purpose: Connects everyday decisions to future progress.

3. Challenge Action Step

Challenge:
This week, focus on one small smart choice each day.

Ask kids to:

Make one thoughtful money choice daily
Notice how it feels
Say each time:
“This small choice helps my future!”

This builds awareness, confidence, and intentional decision-making.

4. Key Vocabulary Words

These are key words for this lesson that will help children understand decisions and long-term impact.

Choice: A decision you make

Decision: Picking between options

Daily: Something that happens every day

Outcome: What happens because of a choice

Goal: Something you are working toward

So when we talk about small choices, we’re learning that what we choose today helps shape where we go tomorrow.

Now Check Out Lesson 15

This blog is part of a 17-lesson series that uses the Sammy Rabbit song Get in the Habit to make it fun, easy, and effective for anyone to talk with and teach young kids about great money habits.

When ready, check out Teaching Tips for Lesson 15: Saving Builds Confidence, Security, and a Sense of Empowerment. It focuses on how saving helps you feel confident, proud, safe, and in control.

Additional Songs and Fun Resources

Keep:

kids listening, learning, singing and growing with a FREE or PREMIUM Money School Memberships.
parents, teachers, and community leaders learning and growing their financial literacy teaching skills by reading Sam X Renick's series of articles: Money Lessons Parents Should Teach Kids!
delivering financial education at home, in school, and other venues with Sammy's Dream Big Financial Education curriculum!

Contact Sammy Today!

We welcome your questions, suggestions, and ideas! Let’s connect, brainstorm, and partner to keep helping kids, families, and communities build strong financial literacy knowledge, habits, and skills—so together, we can create better and brighter futures for all.