Home / Hands-on activities / Track Profit & Loss

Financial literacy activity

Track Profit & Loss

Play the coins in, coins out game! Put coins in a jar when you 'sell' something and take coins out when you 'buy' supplies. Count what is left — did you make money?

Hands OnAbout 25 minutesScreen-freeParent help expected

Materials and setup

How this changes by age

Pre-K (ages 3–4)

Play the coins in, coins out game! Put coins in a jar when you 'sell' something and take coins out when you 'buy' supplies. Count what is left — did you make money?

Difficulty 1 of 3

Steps

  1. Start with an empty jar. This is your 'business money.'
  2. Pretend to sell 3 items: put 2 coins in the jar for each sale. Count: 2, 4, 6 coins!
  3. Now buy supplies: take 3 coins out for ingredients. Count what is left.
  4. Did you end up with more than you started? That means you made a profit!
  5. Play again with different numbers. Can you always end with more?

Learning objectives

  • Understand that money comes in (sales) and goes out (costs)
  • Practice adding and subtracting coins
  • Learn that profit means having more money than you started with

Kindergarten (ages 5–6)

Track money earned and money spent for a pretend (or real) business over 3 days. At the end, calculate if you made a profit or had a loss.

Difficulty 2 of 3

Steps

  1. Set up a simple ledger with two columns: MONEY IN and MONEY OUT.
  2. Day 1: You sell 5 cups of lemonade at $1 each = $5 in. You spent $3 on supplies = $3 out.
  3. Day 2: You sell 3 cups = $3 in. You bought more cups = $1 out.
  4. Day 3: You sell 7 cups = $7 in. No new costs today.
  5. Add up all MONEY IN. Add up all MONEY OUT. Subtract: IN - OUT = Profit or Loss.
  6. Draw a happy face if profit, sad face if loss. Discuss: 'How could we make more profit next time?'

Learning objectives

  • Record income and expenses in a simple ledger
  • Add columns of numbers and calculate the difference
  • Determine whether a business made a profit or loss

Early elementary (ages 6–8)

Keep a detailed profit and loss statement for a real or simulated business over one week. Track revenue, cost of goods, operating expenses, and calculate net profit. Create a simple chart showing daily performance.

Difficulty 2 of 3

Steps

  1. Create a weekly P&L sheet with rows for each day and columns: Revenue (sales), Cost of Goods (materials), Other Expenses (supplies, signs), and Daily Profit.
  2. Each day, record all money coming in and all money going out with descriptions.
  3. Calculate daily profit: Revenue - Cost of Goods - Other Expenses = Daily Profit.
  4. At end of week, total each column. Calculate weekly net profit.
  5. Create a bar chart showing daily profit — which day was best? Worst? Why?
  6. Write 3 ideas for increasing profit next week: sell more, reduce costs, or raise prices?

Learning objectives

  • Maintain a structured profit and loss statement over multiple days
  • Categorize expenses into cost of goods and operating expenses
  • Calculate daily and weekly net profit accurately
  • Analyze financial data to identify trends and improvement opportunities

Upper elementary (ages 8–10)

Run a real business event and track the obvious and less-obvious costs. Learn how overhead changes the picture without turning the activity into a pessimistic lesson.

Difficulty 3 of 3

Steps

  1. Run a small business event (lemonade stand, bake sale, craft sale). Track every cost — and I mean EVERY cost.
  2. Not just ingredients. Also track signage materials, cups and napkins, and any extra trip costs your family agrees are reasonable to include.
  3. Total all real costs.
  4. Now calculate: revenue minus ALL costs = real profit. How does this compare to what you THOUGHT your profit would be?
  5. Reflect: Which less-obvious costs surprised you most, and how would you plan for them next time?

Learning objectives

  • Track all real costs of a business event, including overlooked overhead
  • Calculate real profit by subtracting all costs from revenue
  • Recognize how hidden costs change the picture of profitability

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.

Related financial literacy activities

Build a Brand

Create a name and a colorful logo for your pretend business! Draw it big and bold. Pick your business colors and make a sign to hang up.

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!

Charitable Giving Hearts

Find 3 toys you've outgrown and put them in a donation bag for another child. Sharing makes someone else happy AND feels good in your own heart!

Coin Sorting

Sort coins by type and learn their names! Practice identifying pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters by color, size, and pictures.

Browse all 575 activities · Explore course syllabi