How can we help children save? Tell them they can (if they want to)

- We explored 3-to-5-year-olds' saving using a marble task.
- Children who received a verbal cue saved more than children who did not.
- Saving increased significantly with age.
- Saving was not positively related to theory of mind or inhibitory control.
- Saving was independent of receptive language ability.

We used a marble game paradigm to explore whether 3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds' saving was facilitated by a verbal prompt alerting them to their choices (i.e., saving or spending marbles). Two marble games differing in desirability assessed whether children in a “prompted” condition saved more than those who did not receive a prompt (“spontaneous” condition) and whether saving increased with age. We also assessed whether children's saving was related to their inhibitory control (IC), theory of mind (ToM), working memory (WM), and receptive language ability. Children in the prompted condition saved significantly more marbles than children in the spontaneous condition, and saving improved significantly with age. After controlling for age, saving was not positively associated with IC, ToM, WM, or receptive language ability. Implications for children's saving, episodic foresight, and future research are discussed.