Financial literacy activity
Stock Market Simulator
Pretend to own a piece of your favorite store! Learn that when a company does well, your piece becomes more valuable. Use stickers as shares and watch them grow!
Materials and setup
- stock cards
- play money
- chart paper
- markers
- calculator
How this changes by age
Pre-K (ages 3–4)
Pretend to own a piece of your favorite store! Learn that when a company does well, your piece becomes more valuable. Use stickers as shares and watch them grow!
Steps
- Pick 3 pretend companies: Toy Store, Ice Cream Shop, Pet Shop. Give each one a sticker on a piece of paper — that sticker is your 'share'!
- A share is like owning a tiny piece of a company. If the company does well, your piece is worth more!
- Roll a die for each company: 4-6 means 'good day' (add a sticker), 1-2 means 'bad day' (no change), 3 means 'great day' (add 2 stickers).
- After 5 rounds, count your stickers for each company. Which did the best?
- Discuss: 'Companies have good days and bad days. Over time, good companies usually grow!'
Learning objectives
- Understand that a share means owning a small piece of a company
- Observe that company value can go up and down over time
- Practice counting and comparing quantities across categories
Kindergarten (ages 5–6)
Play the Stock Market Game! Buy shares of pretend companies with play money, track prices each day, and decide when to buy more or sell. Watch your portfolio grow or shrink!
Steps
- Create 4 company cards with starting prices: Toy Co ($2), Food Co ($3), Game Co ($4), Pet Co ($1).
- Give each player $20 in play money. Buy shares at the starting prices (as many as you want of each).
- Each round, roll a die for each company to change the price: 1-2 = price goes down $1, 3-4 = stays same, 5-6 = goes up $1 (minimum price is $1).
- After seeing new prices, players can buy more or sell shares at the new price.
- After 6 rounds, sell all remaining shares. Count total money. Who has the most?
Learning objectives
- Buy and sell shares and track their changing values
- Calculate the total value of a portfolio with multiple stocks
- Make decisions about when to buy and when to sell based on price changes
Early elementary (ages 6–8)
Run a week-long stock market simulation. Track 6 companies, plot price charts, make buy and sell decisions based on trends, and calculate your portfolio return. Learn about diversification and risk.
Steps
- Create 6 company stock cards with starting prices from $5 to $20. Each has a description: tech company, food chain, toy maker, etc.
- Each day (or round), draw an event card that affects prices: 'New toy is a hit! Toy Co +$3' or 'Rainy summer. Ice Cream Co -$2.'
- Start with $100. Make buy/sell decisions each round based on prices and events. Record all trades.
- Plot each stock's price on graph paper over all rounds. Look for trends: which stocks went up? Which were volatile?
- Calculate portfolio return: (final value - $100) / $100 x 100 = your percentage return.
- Discuss diversification: 'What if you put all $100 in one stock versus spreading across 4 stocks? Which is safer?'
Learning objectives
- Track stock prices over time and plot them on a chart
- Calculate portfolio return as a percentage gain or loss
- Understand how diversification reduces risk in investing
Upper elementary (ages 8–10)
Master stock market fundamentals. Research real companies, analyze what makes stock prices move, build a diversified portfolio, and track it over a week. Learn about market indices, P/E ratios, and the difference between speculation and investing.
Steps
- Research 5 real publicly traded companies you know (Apple, Nike, Disney, etc.). Find their current stock price and what the company does.
- With a pretend $10,000, build a diversified portfolio across at least 4 companies in different industries. Record your purchases.
- Track real stock prices daily for a week (parent helps with a financial website). Update your portfolio value each day.
- Research: What is a stock market index (S&P 500, Dow Jones)? Why do people track them? How did yours compare?
- Analyze: What events this week affected your stocks? News, earnings reports, economic data? Write a market commentary.
- Debate: 'Is the stock market gambling or investing?' Discuss the difference between buying based on research versus guessing.
Learning objectives
- Research real companies and build a diversified investment portfolio
- Track and analyze stock price movements in response to real-world events
- Distinguish between informed investing and speculation using financial concepts
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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