This is one nest egg I wouldn't want to break open – it's a literal money saver
This clever toy egg turns chores into savings lessons, eventually cracking open to reveal a real debit card
by Luke Edwards · T3
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Quick Summary
Nest Egg is a concept from Scottish design studio Filament that combines a physical toy egg with an app to teach children about saving and spending.
Kids earn stars for chores and milestones, eventually unlocking a hidden character and, later, a real debit card.
I've seen plenty of clever piggy banks over the years, but this might be the first one I'd be genuinely reluctant to smash open. Nest Egg is a toy egg designed to teach kids about money by making saving something they can actually see and interact with.
The idea comes from Glasgow-based design studio Filament, which thinks the move from physical cash to digital payments has made it harder for children to understand what money actually is. Nest Egg brings some of that physical interaction back, but with a few modern tricks thrown in.
It starts with a few stars
Nest Egg works alongside a companion app where parents can set chores and other milestones for their children. Completing them earns digital stars, building towards the moment when the egg finally opens.
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That's where things get interesting. Once enough stars have been collected, the physical egg cracks open and reveals a little character hidden inside, giving kids something tangible to work towards rather than simply watching a number increase on a screen.
The egg is designed to make children wait for their reward, introducing the idea of delayed gratification as part of the process. It's a modern take on the old fridge star chart, except eventually the star chart actually does something.
And the little character isn't just there to look cute. It contains NFC technology, allowing a child to tap it against a parent's smartphone to access their accrued allowance. It can also unlock animations about good financial habits.
The egg grows up with you
The egg doesn't become useless once it has hatched. The character effectively becomes the child's physical interface for the system, while the egg stays with them until their parents decide they're ready to move on to the next stage. Then comes one final mechanical crack, revealing a real-world debit card inside.
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Filament describes this as a graduation from a simulated financial environment into the real banking world. It's also a modern version of smashing open a porcelain piggy bank, except instead of a pile of coins hitting the floor, you're getting your first bank card.
There is one fairly big catch: Nest Egg isn't a product you can buy yet. It's currently a concept, and Filament is looking for a banking partner to provide the infrastructure needed to turn the idea into a working product.
For something designed to teach financial literacy, Nest Egg has managed to make saving money look like quite a lot of fun.