Helping children understand money and online risks: a joint initiative at YEP! Schoulfoire 2026

Following the conclusion of the 4-day YEP! Schoulfoire, the Fondation ABBL pour l’éducation financière reflects on a successful collaborative initiative carried out together with SCRIPT, initiator of the project, and the Luxembourg House of Cybersecurity (LHC), through its National Cybersecurity Competence Center (NC3).

Held at Luxexpo, this major national education fair brought together pupils, parents and educators to explore learning pathways and essential life skills. Within this context, the partners designed a shared, interactive experience for pupils aged 8 to 12.

A shared mission

The objective of this joint initiative was clear: to build a strong foundation for the future through financial education and digital awareness.

By combining their respective expertise, the partners engaged hundreds of pupils and educators, helping them better understand the skills needed to navigate today’s increasingly complex financial and digital environment.

Each organisation contributed its specific knowledge and approach, reflected in the design and delivery of the activities.

Raising awareness from an early age

A key takeaway from the initiative is that financial education and cybersecurity are increasingly interconnected, particularly for younger generations growing up in a digital environment.

Based on the activities conducted, it was observed that while children are generally aware of online risks, they do not always fully understand their implications or give them sufficient attention. This underlines the importance of developing awareness at an early age through practical and engaging approaches.

As part of the cybersecurity activities, children were encouraged to:

• reflect on password practices
• identify suspicious links and messages
• recognise fake websites
• use official contact details when seeking help

These exercises aimed to develop practical reflexes that can help prevent online fraud.

Building strong financial habits

The initiative also aligns with the broader mission of the Fondation ABBL pour l’éducation financière, which promotes early financial education as a key life skill.

Children were introduced to simple but essential concepts, such as:

• saving with a purpose
• understanding the difference between needs and wants
• recognising the value of money through effort

These foundations contribute to building confidence and responsible financial behaviour over time.

A collective effort

This initiative is part of a wider effort to strengthen awareness around financial and digital risks and is aligned with the national campaign cyberfraud.lu, which promotes safe online behaviour and provides practical guidance to the public.

It also illustrates the value of collaboration between education, financial and cybersecurity stakeholders in delivering consistent and impactful messages.

The Luxembourg House of Cybersecurity also involved students from the University of Luxembourg in the development of the activity, further reinforcing its educational dimension.

“Through this project, we learned how to design a game that is both suitable and enjoyable for children, adapt it based on their reactions, and work together as a team,” said Kejsi Bushi and Haveri Genti, Master’s students in Cybersecurity.