The Rist children, of Lawrence, all have piggy banks. From left, Nathan, 3, Abby, 7, and Joey, 6, save their money in banks resembling a Kansas City Chiefs helmet, Cinderella and Buzz Lightyear.

Feeding a piggy bank continues to be both an American tradition and a good way for parents to teach economics in its simplest form to their children.

“You’ve got to teach them about saving and the value of money,” says Lawrence resident Bruce Rist, who along with his wife, Pam, have two sons and one daughter.

Piggy banks, however, don’t always take the form of the traditional fat and smiling ceramic or plastic pig with a slot on its back. Banks in the Rist household include a variety of characters.

Daughter Abby, 7, has Cinderella. Joey, 6, has Buzz Lightyear. And 3-year-old Nathan has a Kansas City Chiefs helmet. It’s the same helmet his dad used to save money when he was a boy.

“It might even have some of the same money in it from when I had it,” Rist says.

The Rist children deposit their allowances in their banks. They also make withdrawals for church offerings and shopping trips, although mom and dad have the final say on any transaction, Rist says.

“It’s not like a regular allowance. We give them a little money when they rake leaves and just help around the house putting stuff up,” Rist says.

Livia Mihu and her husband, Jeremy, also of Lawrence, use money as an incentive to get their 7-year-old daughter, Jasmine, to do things she should do but doesn’t always want to do, such as brushing her teeth twice a day. She gets 5 cents for each brushing.

“We also give her 5 cents for straightening her room every day,” Mihu says. “She keeps track and writes it down on her calendar, and then at the end of the month she gets paid for all of the days she completed the task.”

Jasmine also gives her share to church, and she usually saves for merchandise she especially wants and has to save for.

“She likes to save. We’ve noticed that,” Mihu says. “This year she wants to buy Christmas presents. She’ll have $45, so that 5 cents goes a long way.”

The Mihus also give money to their 2-year-old son, Andrew, for his piggy bank. He gets a penny when he picks up his toys.

“He thinks that’s great because he doesn’t understand money yet,” Mihu says. “One penny is shiny, and he loves it a lot.”

The Mihu children still use actual piggy banks for saving their money.