Teaching Tips for Lesson 4: You Can Do It!

This is the fourth 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 4, built on the phrase: “You can do it!"

For context, the full lyrics for each phrase are:

You can do it, now let's get to it! (Get into the habit of saving money)

The full phrase has been intentionally organized into separate lessons, making it easy to teach one concept at a time or combine them as a sequence.

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

Summary

Lesson: Discuss confidence, beliefs, and attitudes. Help children develop a strong “can-do” mindset, especially when forming new habits. Positive money habits—like saving—often require patience, discipline, delayed gratification, and persistence. When kids believe they can succeed, they’re far more likely to stick with those habits over time.

Share with kids: “You can do it” means believing in yourself. When you believe you can save and try your best, good habits get easier. It also means don’t quit. Even when saving feels hard, believing in yourself helps you keep going.

1. Simple Discussion Questions

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

What does “You can do it” mean to you?
When have you believed in yourself and kept going?
Why do you think saving sometimes feels hard?
What can you tell yourself when you want to quit?
How does believing in yourself help you build good habits?

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

Micro-Activity 1: Can-Do Statements

Materials: None

Ask children to complete this sentence out loud:

“I can save when I __________.”
“I can keep going even when __________.”

Have the group repeat together:
“I can do it!”

Purpose: Builds positive self-talk and confidence.

Micro-Activity 2: Try-It Challenge

Materials: None

Ask kids to choose one small action they can try today (saving one coin, waiting before spending, putting money in a jar).
Have them practice saying:
“I can do it—even if it’s a little hard.”

Purpose: Connects belief to action.

3. Challenge Action Step

This week, encourage kids to practice saying “You can do it” every time they save or make a smart money choice.

Each time they try—even if it feels difficult—have them say:

“I can do it!”

This reinforces confidence, persistence, and habit-building.

4. Key Vocabulary Words

These words help children understand that success starts with mindset and effort.

You: The person we’re talking to — you! (or for that matter anyone can choose to save!)

Can: Being able to try and believing it’s possible.

Do: To take action and give it a good try.

Now Check Out Lesson 5

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 5 from the song Get in the Habit: Now,Let's Get to It! It focuses on the value that taking action adds—and how applying what you learn helps ideas grow.

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.