Social studies activity
Young Economists
Sort picture cards into two piles — needs (food, water, clothes) and wants (toys, candy, games)! Then play pretend store with play money.
Materials and setup
- play money
- picture cards
- price tags
- paper
- pencil
How this changes by age
Pre-K (ages 3–4)
Sort picture cards into two piles — needs (food, water, clothes) and wants (toys, candy, games)! Then play pretend store with play money.
Steps
- Sort picture cards into two groups: needs (food, water, home, clothes) and wants (toys, candy, video games).
- Talk about jobs: what does a doctor do? A teacher? A firefighter? How do they help people?
- Play pretend store: set up items with price tags. Use play money to buy things.
- Practice trading: 'I'll give you 2 blocks for 1 car.' Is it a fair trade?
- Draw a picture of something you need and something you want.
Learning objectives
- Distinguish between wants and needs
- Understand that people work to earn money
- Practice basic exchange and trading concepts
Kindergarten (ages 5–6)
Explore basic economic concepts: goods and services, producers and consumers, and scarcity. Run a classroom-style economy.
Steps
- Learn vocabulary: goods (things you buy) vs. services (things people do for you). List 5 of each.
- Identify producers (people who make goods or provide services) and consumers (people who buy them).
- Discuss scarcity: there are only 3 cookies but 4 people want one. What do we do?
- Set up a simple economy: earn play money for completing tasks, spend it at a 'store' you create.
- Create a picture book showing a product's journey from producer to consumer.
Learning objectives
- Define goods, services, producers, and consumers
- Understand scarcity and how it requires choices
- Experience earning and spending in a simple economy
Early elementary (ages 6–8)
Study supply and demand, opportunity cost, and how economies work. Analyze how prices are set and why some things cost more than others.
Steps
- Learn supply and demand: when lots of people want something and there isn't much, the price goes up. Simulate with a classroom auction.
- Study opportunity cost: if you spend $10 on a toy, you can't also buy a book. Every choice has a trade-off.
- Research how a product gets from raw materials to your home (supply chain of a t-shirt or a chocolate bar).
- Compare prices of the same item at different stores. Why do prices vary?
- Create a budget for a pretend class party with $50. Make choices about food, decorations, and activities.
- Write an explanation of why water is cheap but diamonds are expensive (the diamond-water paradox).
Learning objectives
- Explain how supply and demand affect prices
- Analyze opportunity cost in everyday decisions
- Trace a product through its supply chain
Upper elementary (ages 8–10)
Investigate economic systems, entrepreneurship, and how local, national, and global economies connect, then explain one real-world issue in a balanced, age-appropriate way.
Steps
- Compare economic systems: market economy, command economy, and mixed economy. Which does the US use?
- Study a local business: interview the owner (or research online) about how they make money, their costs, and challenges.
- Analyze imports and exports: what does your state/country export? Import? Why?
- Investigate inflation: why did the same candy bar cost $0.25 in 1990 and $1.50 today?
- Create a business plan for a product or service: identify target market, costs, pricing, and projected profit.
- Choose one public-economics question, such as minimum wage or school lunch prices. With a trusted adult, make a two-column chart showing reasons people support different answers, then explain which points seem strongest and why.
Learning objectives
- Compare different economic systems
- Analyze how local and global economies are interconnected
- Apply economic concepts to real-world business scenarios
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 social studies activities
Advanced Map Skills
Learn what maps are! Follow a simple treasure map around your house or yard. Maps show us where things are.
Alabama's Story: Cotton, Civil Rights & Red Hills
Did you know that one woman sitting down on a bus helped change America forever? Rosa Parks sat down in Alabama — and the whole country stood up. And Alabama is also home to NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville — where scientists designed the Saturn V rocket that sent people to the Moon! Ten years after Rosa Parks's bus protest, thousands of people marched together across a bridge in Selma, Alabama to ask for the right to vote. Let's draw that bridge!
Alaska's Story: Glaciers, Gold Rush & Seward's Folly
Alaska is so gigantic that if you put it on top of the rest of the United States, it would stretch from Florida all the way to California! And it has rivers made of ice — called glaciers — that move SO slowly you can't see them move. Let's build an icy Alaska scene!
American History Timeline
Color an American flag together — count the 13 stripes and 50 stars! Then wave it and sing a patriotic song.