The economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is hardly a secret. More than 50 million Americans have filed for unemployment since March, and food insecurity has risen to unprecedented levels.

If youre a parent whose financial situation has changed due to the pandemic, you may be struggling to determine the best way to convey this new reality to your children. Fortunately, there are healthy and educational ways to have conversations about family finances with children.

To help inform these discussions, HuffPost asked a few experts about how parents can explain to kids that money is tight right now. Read on for their advice. Although our discussions focused on the current recession, this guidance can apply to other economic circumstances as well.

Inform, but dont overshare.

Regarding any discussion with children, whether it be about the pandemic or financial stress, developmental research tells us that parents should share enough about the current experiences so that a child feels informed, but not overshare to the point of your child feeling additional stress and pressure, said Katrina Lindsay , a pediatric psychologist at Akron Childrens Hospital.

Details that arent age-appropriate may overload kids with information that could worry or scare them, so its best to stick to clear, brief explanations on changes in family spending. Be transparent and honest, but avoid saying more than they need to know. Ask them questions and prepare to answer any that they may have.

Lindsay encourages parents to engage in knowledge checks to get a sense of what their young children know. They can ask questions like, Have you noticed that this summer looks a little different regarding our activities we are doing? or Has mommy seemed extra stressed to you? or When you asked for that toy yesterday, and daddy said no, do you know why he might have said no to you?

As I have seen time and time again in my own practice, kids often know more than what parents think, but they often fill in the details with their own fears and understanding, which may be a lot scarier than the actual reality, she added.

Speak in a calm, relaxed manner.

Parents set the tone for these conversations, so consider the best time and setting to talk to your children. This is particularly important with younger children, said Sanam Hafeez , a New York-based psychologist.

Suggest an activity such as coloring or a game to engage them and make them comfortable, she said. Trying to sit down for a formal talk with young children is not likely to be as effective. When its time, explain to your child that you cant buy new toys or things they dont need right now, but instead can be on the wish list for the next birthday, holiday, or other gift-giving occasions. Explain that you have the familys best interest in mind and that if you dont save now, they wont be in a good situation later on.

Hafeez added that kids under 10 may have a hard time grasping certain concepts, so this is a good time to explain what things like budgets are in simple terms. After the conversation, parents continue to set the tone for how the family will manage during this time.

From there, you have to lead by example and not let your children hear you complaining aloud about money, said Hafeez.

Use age-appropriate examples.

Lindsay advised using a local community example to explain your familys economic situation like a favorite pizza place that has temporarily closed.

A parent could explain that the pizza place remains closed so that the owner and employees can stay safe, but that the owner and employees may not be getting the same income as they used to, so the owner may have to make choices, and hold back on things that are unnecessary or expensive, she said.

Then, if your child is old enough and can understand, you might be able to explain your own financial reality through this lens, elaborating that like the pizza place, mom/dad/guardians workplace also made choices to keep their workers safe, and so all of the workers may have to cut back and make hard choices, she added.

Lindsay also recommended using concrete, kid-friendly examples to explain the sacrifices the family may need to make to get through this time, rather than going into more abstract notions like bills, mortgages and bank accounts.

Some of the hard choices may be keeping everybody safe and fed, and not getting to do other things that are fun or extra this summer, she said. Like not joining the pool this summer, keeping the air conditioner at a higher temperature, cutting the cable bill and not going out to eat as often.