Financial literacy activity
Career Day Explorer
Explore different jobs! Learn about what people do to earn money. Dress up and pretend to be a doctor, teacher, firefighter, or chef. Every job helps our community!
Materials and setup
- career cards
- paper
- pencil
- props for dress-up
How this changes by age
Pre-K (ages 3–4)
Explore different jobs! Learn about what people do to earn money. Dress up and pretend to be a doctor, teacher, firefighter, or chef. Every job helps our community!
Steps
- Look at picture cards of different jobs: doctor, teacher, firefighter, chef, farmer, pilot.
- For each job, ask: 'What does this person do? How do they help people?'
- Pick a favorite job and pretend to do it! Use props: a spoon for chef, a book for teacher.
- Discuss: 'People do jobs to help others AND to earn money for their family.'
- Draw a picture of what you want to be when you grow up.
Learning objectives
- Identify common jobs and describe what each person does
- Understand that people work to earn money and help others
- Express interest in future career possibilities through play
Kindergarten (ages 5–6)
Match skills to careers! Learn that different jobs need different skills. Explore what tools each job uses and sort jobs by whether they work indoors or outdoors, with people or things.
Steps
- Create career cards with job names and pictures. Create skill cards: good with numbers, likes helping people, creative, strong, good with animals.
- Match skills to jobs: 'A vet is good with animals. An artist is creative.'
- Sort careers: indoor vs outdoor, works with people vs works with things.
- Discuss pay: 'Some jobs pay more than others. Why do you think that is?'
- Interview a family member about their job: what do they do, what skills do they use, what do they like about it?
Learning objectives
- Match personal skills and interests to different career paths
- Categorize jobs by work environment and primary focus
- Conduct a simple interview to learn about a real job
Early elementary (ages 6–8)
Research careers in depth! Compare education requirements, salary ranges, and daily responsibilities. Create a career profile for three jobs you find interesting and present your findings.
Steps
- Choose 3 careers that interest you. For each, research: what they do daily, education needed, approximate salary, skills required.
- Create a career profile card for each: job title, daily tasks, years of school, salary range, top 3 skills needed.
- Compare: which job pays the most? Which needs the most education? Is the highest-paying job always the one that needs the most school?
- Discuss: 'Money is not the only reason to pick a job. What else matters? Enjoyment? Helping people? Schedule?'
- Rate each career on a 1-5 scale for: pay, fun, helping others, time in school. Which has the best overall score for YOU?
Learning objectives
- Research and compare careers based on education, salary, and responsibilities
- Understand that career choices involve balancing money, interest, and impact
- Create organized profiles to present career research findings
Upper elementary (ages 8–10)
Explore career economics in depth. Research income types (salary, hourly, commission, freelance), calculate lifetime earnings, analyze the return on investment of education, and create a 10-year career plan.
Steps
- Research 4 income types: salary ($50k/year), hourly ($15/hour), commission (base + % of sales), freelance (per project). Calculate monthly take-home for each.
- Lifetime earnings comparison: A plumber (2-year trade school, starts at $45k) versus a doctor (12 years of school, starts at $200k but has $200k in loans). Who earns more by age 65?
- Research 3 careers in a field you like. For each: education path, starting salary, mid-career salary, job growth outlook.
- Calculate ROI of education: if college costs $80,000 and increases salary by $20,000/year, how many years until you break even?
- Create your 10-year career plan: what education or training you would pursue, jobs you would target, and salary goals at each stage.
- Present your career plan to the family, explaining your reasoning and financial projections.
Learning objectives
- Compare different income structures and calculate take-home pay
- Analyze the financial return on investment of education and training
- Create a long-term career plan with financial projections and milestones
Safety and evidence note
Read the full activity before beginning. An adult should supervise tools, heat, food, outdoor work, movement, and experiments as appropriate. Completion records that the activity was done; the child’s explanation, work sample, photo, or demonstration is stronger evidence of learning than a completion check alone.
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