Claim Your Future® (CYF) is a proven, engaging educational game that encourages students to explore career pathways, financial decision making, and the future return on investment of post-secondary education and training. Created by the Finance Authority of Maine (FAME), Maine’s higher education agency, Claim Your Future has been improving financial capabilities for Maine people for over a decade. Since its launch, CYF has been played in over 90 countries by over a million students representing every state in the U.S.
Through this fun, memorable experience, students learn life skills, and begin to understand the strong connection between the choices they make today and their opportunities in the future. They also learn that higher education leads to more career options and higher-paying jobs.
Claim Your Future can be played alone or with a group, online or with the handheld game kit. It is appropriate for a wide range of audiences, from young students through high school and beyond. It can be utilized as a one-time classroom activity, an after school activity, or as part of a larger unit on careers, higher education, and money management. Typically, students engage independently with the digital game for an average of 15 minutes, and teachers often facilitate the classroom game in 30-45 minutes. Designed by and for educators for ease of use, Claim Your Future can be facilitated by teachers, used by families, or played individually.
Developed by FAME’s Financial Education Programs Manager, Mary Dyer, in conjunction with FAME’s College Access and Financial Education team, Claim Your Future has been consistently field tested and improved through actual classroom experience and educator feedback.
Claim Your Future can be played online at ClaimYourFuture.org. Students can choose a career or opt to have one randomly assigned. They then can learn about higher education, and navigate through different living expense choices to try to balance their budget. As students make budgeting decisions, Claim Your Future keeps track of how much money they’ve spent. The goal is for students to complete a monthly budget without “breaking their wallet.” At ClaimYourFuture.org, you’ll find:
When played in the classroom or with wheels and worksheets that are sent home, students are assigned a unique Claim Your Future game wheel representing a specific career, education, and monthly income. Educators are encouraged to discuss various career and college options and lead students through a monthly budgeting activity. Students have a hands-on learning experience where they spin the wheel to make choices and calculate their budget manually.
Each Claim Your Future game kit includes 50 unique decision wheels representing various careers and life expense options and 100 student reward stickers. The wheels are on coated paper and are able to be wiped down with sanitizer. To order a Claim Your Future classroom game kit, please visit the Order Kits page.
Game wheels are on coated paper and can be wiped down to sanitize.