How to Teach Kids About Economics Through Hands on Activities
Economics-related activities in the classroom can help students grasp the concept of how money affects our society. By elementary school, most children are beginning to understand the concept of monetary exchange from observing their parents make purchases. Providing hands-on activities for kids to learn about economics can make them more aware of financial responsibilities as they grow older.
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Instructions
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Bank Book Reward System
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1
Give each child a bank book. Use a computer to create the pages. Include columns for descriptions of the items purchased, withdrawals, deposits and the running balance. Print out the pages, and staple on a construction paper cover to make it look official.
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2
Come up with rewards the children can earn throughout the school day. Examples include answering a question correctly, behaving well in class or receiving a good grade on a test. Keep a running tally of dollar amounts awarded to each student, and make sure they write their award amounts in their bank books. Encourage the children to add up their totals in the "running totals" column of the bank book.
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3
Have students purchase items. Buy items of varying worth, and have students make purchases.
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4
Have students subtract their purchase totals in their bank books.
Dramatic Play
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Use signs to set up areas around the room representing different elements of the economy such as a farm, restaurant, bank, hospital, home and a store. Use construction paper to make the signs.
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Create play money that the students can use to exchange for goods and services.
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Explain the importance of suppliers and consumers and how they are interconnected through buying and selling.
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Set up different scenarios to stimulate the imagination of the students. For example, a drought has caused the farm to have a crop shortage; as a result, the restaurant has increased its food prices.
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