Teaching primary school student essential money skills with Smiley the Squirrel

POSB, part of DBS Group, commissioned us to create a series of 3 animated explainer videos produced in partnership with Singapore’s Ministry of Education (MOE). Developed as part of their financial literacy collaboration around POSB Smart Buddy, the series was designed for integration into the Singapore Student Learning Space and tailored to 3 different age groups: Primary 1–2, Primary 3–4, and Primary 5–6.

Each video introduced progressively more advanced concepts, from understanding needs and wants and making responsible spending choices to budgeting, saving, protecting money, and recognising scams.

We managed the entire production process, from concept development and scriptwriting to storyboarding, visual design, illustration, voiceover, animation, and post-production.

Using POSB’s Smiley the Squirrel as the central character, we developed a coherent animated universe that could support all three stories while remaining consistent with the mascot’s established personality and visual identity. For each age group, we carefully adapted the vocabulary, examples, pacing, and complexity of the financial concepts to match the students’ level of understanding.

One of the main challenges was balancing educational accuracy with simple, relatable storytelling. We worked closely with POSB’s financial literacy and brand teams to define the most appropriate terminology, scenarios, visual metaphors, and product references for young audiences.

The result is a cohesive three-part educational series that gives POSB and MOE an age-appropriate resource for introducing financial literacy throughout primary school.

While each episode works independently, the complete series creates a clear learning progression across 6 school years. By combining practical everyday situations, the familiarity of Smiley the Squirrel, and selected elements from POSB Smart Buddy, the videos were designed to make financial concepts easier for children to understand, remember, and apply.