GeldLab gives children nine coins and real financial choices

Once a child receives nine virtual coins, the hard part is not earning money back but deciding when to spend and when to wait. Rotterdam’s Tax and Customs Museum turns that familiar family tension into nine playable situations. Children encounter income, temptation, saving, borrowing and risk through consequences rather than definitions. GeldLab is designed mainly for ages ten to fourteen. Weekday sessions can be reserved for school groups, so individual visitors should check the museum schedule before leaving. Hokimi’s view is that adults should resist correcting every choice on the spot. Ask afterwards which purchase felt best, which decision became uncomfortable and how much the child would keep if the game restarted. That conversation reveals more than another lecture about saving and gives parents a shared vocabulary for real pocket-money decisions.

• GeldLab uses nine games about earning, spending, saving and borrowing.
• It is aimed mainly at ages ten to fourteen, with school-group hours on weekdays.
• The lab is inside the Tax and Customs Museum in Rotterdam.
• Its value lies in consequences and reflection, not memorising financial terms.

Hokimi field note: Treat the visit as a conversation, not a test. Check opening and admission first, then give the child a modest real budget afterwards and let them divide it between one small pleasure and one saving goal.

Information verified on 22 August 2026 · Source1 · Source2