How long does a session take?

The game itself runs in 10–25 minutes; you choose the time limit when you start it. Most teachers add 5–15 minutes for discussion afterwards, and that's where the best learning happens.

Yes. Run New Zealand is free for every classroom, with unlimited classes and students, and it stays free. Budget Bird for Schools (NZ$399 + GST per school, per year) adds your students' reflection answers, full comparisons with New Zealand, class summaries and exports, and a school-wide history, for every teacher at your school. My Money arrives in 2027 at no extra cost.

Anything with a modern browser: laptops, Chromebooks, tablets, phones. No app install needed.

What curriculum areas does it cover?

Social Sciences, Mathematics, English, and key competencies like critical thinking and civic participation. We've mapped it across Years 7–13.

Do I need to know about public finance to run it?

Not at all. The game is designed to be self-explanatory for students. But if you want some background, or want to weave it into a broader lesson, there is a Public Finance 101 crash course that covers how the NZ budget works.

Do you have lesson plans I can use?

Yes. Ready-to-go workshop plans for 15, 30, or 60 minute sessions, plus discussion prompts for before, during, and after the game.

Budget Bird

Your class is about to argue over the government budget

Students drag sliders, make impossible trade-offs, and discover why politicians look so tired. No installs, no accounts, just a class code and a room full of opinions.

Try the Interactive Demo See the workshop plan

Budget Bird in play: students sizing the government budget

No student logins

A class code is all they need.

Any device

Chromebooks, tablets, phones, with no install.

10–25 minutes

Fits a single period with time to debate.

Free to run

Unlimited classes and students.

Watch a class run Budget Bird

See what happens when 30 students realise they can't fund everything. Spoiler: it gets loud.

Try the Demo Explore the budget

Running a class takes three steps

Run a class

Start a game, choose a challenge and time limit. A class code is generated for students.

Under a minute

Students join

They enter the code at budgetbird.co.nz/join on any device, set a team name, and play.

10–25 minutes

Discuss & learn

See budgets and outcomes live. Arguments guaranteed. Learning disguised as fun.

5–15 minutes

Why teachers keep running it

It does the hard part of a civics lesson for you: making students care.

Zero prep before the bell

No printing, no accounts, no setup homework. Open the dashboard, start a class, and you're teaching.

Real New Zealand numbers

Students work with the actual Budget: the same categories and trade-offs ministers face, scaled to $1,000.

The discussion runs itself

Every class ends with disagreement about what mattered most, and prompts ready to turn that into a values conversation.

Evidence you can show

A live class view and class results show what students chose. Budget Bird for Schools adds their reflection answers on why, plus class summaries and exports for your records.

Curriculum fit

Social SciencesMathematicsEnglishCritical thinkingCivic participationYears 7–13

See the full alignment

Classroom impact so far

In classrooms from Auckland to Otago

More than 35 New Zealand teachers have run Budget Bird with over 500 students, who have made more than 10,000 budget trade-offs.

500+

students have played

35+

teachers have run a class

150+

student learning hours

10,000+

budget trade-offs made

Map of New Zealand showing where Budget Bird is being used — Every pin is a school that has played

A workshop plan you can teach from

30–45 minutes, written for Years 9–13 and adaptable for adult or community groups.

Overview

Title: Can You Balance the Books and Shape the Future?

Audience: Secondary students (Years 9–13), adaptable for adults and community groups

Platform: Budget Bird, an interactive online budgeting tool

Learning objectives

Explain the basic structure of a public budget (revenue and expenditure).

Use a digital tool to explore and adjust a real government or council budget.

Identify trade-offs and justify funding decisions.

Work in groups to build and present priorities; reflect on real-world impact.

Agenda (suggested)

5–7 min

Warm-up

Quick value-based dilemmas to surface trade-offs.

5–7 min

Demo

Walk through the controls; surplus and deficit indicators.

10–15 min

Group challenge

Adjust the budget to hit goals and values.

15 min

Presentations

One-minute share-outs; optional vote or debate.

5–10 min

Wrap-up

Reflection prompts and real-world links.

Download the plan (PDF)

Free, and what Schools adds

Run New Zealand is free for every classroom, and it stays free. Budget Bird for Schools turns it into evidence of learning.

Run New Zealand

Free

For every classroom

Unlimited classes and students
A live class view while they play
Class results to show what students chose
Discussion prompts for after the game

Budget Bird for Schools

NZ$399 + GST a year

One licence per school, paid by card or invoice

Everything in the free game
Students' reflection answers
Full comparisons with New Zealand
Class summaries and exports
Every teacher at your school, with a school-wide history
My Money in 2027, at no extra cost

See Budget Bird for Schools

Questions teachers ask

Nope. Students go to budgetbird.co.nz/join, enter the class code, pick a team name, and they're in. No sign-ups, no downloads.

Harry Cosslett

Founder, Budget Bird

Who's behind it

Made by a former public service finance analyst

I spent four years as a Senior Strategic Finance Analyst in the New Zealand public service, and saw how hard it is to make sense of where public money goes. Budget Bird started from a simple idea: instead of just teaching people about those choices, why not let them make them?

I'm continuing to develop it alongside the teachers and students using it in classrooms around New Zealand, so if something would make it work better for your class, tell me.

Get in touch