Playing a need or want game
Ideal for: Elementary school (K-1)
Students play a game where they review items people can buy and decide which ones are needs and which are wants.
Exploring saving and spending game
Ideal for: Elementary school (2-3), Elementary school (4-5)
Students play a game where they earn and spend money to learn how our choices affect how we’re able to save.
Exploring opportunity costs
Ideal for: Elementary school (4-5), Middle school (6-8)
Students read a book about the opportunity costs of starting a business, play a fill-in-the-blank game, and discuss things they could give up so they can have something else.
Using a buying plan
Ideal for: Elementary school (4-5), Middle school (6-8)
Students read a scenario and then practice creating a buying plan and comparison shopping for a computer.
Making spending choices
Ideal for: Elementary school (K-1), Elementary school (2-3)
Students listen to a Money Monster story about getting a pet and then discuss spending choices.
Exploring needs and wants
Ideal for: Elementary school (K-1), Elementary school (2-3), Elementary school (4-5)
Students review pictures of items and decide which ones are needs and which are wants.
Spending money on a trip
Ideal for: Elementary school (K-1)
Students make choices about how they would spend money on a trip to a park.
Spending more than money on a pet
Ideal for: Elementary school (4-5)
Students read a story and then write a persuasive paragraph about a pet they’d like to own.
Knowing what costs us money
Ideal for: Elementary school (K-1), Elementary school (2-3)
Students analyze a picture of things in a park to identify which ones would cost them money and which ones wouldn’t.
Learning about coins
Ideal for: Elementary school (K-1)
Students learn to identify the penny, nickel, dime, quarter, and their values.
Find financial literacy activities
Find activities that can help you teach and nurture the building blocks of financial capability across the curriculum.
These classroom activities can be completed within a single class period. Each activity comes with a teacher guide and supporting student material, so it’s easy to implement whether you’re an experienced personal finance teacher, integrating financial literacy into another subject area, or supplementing your existing financial education curriculum.
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