Exploring Economics in the Kindergarten Classroom

I love social studies! There are so many fun standards to explore together--even in kindergarten! Over the past few weeks, my class has been learning a little bit about economics. We started out learning the difference between needs and wants, and eventually made our way to learning about goods and services. 

A few years ago, I saw this wonderful idea on Pinterest. I wish I could remember whose it was so I could give proper credit, but I honestly don't know. That said, it has become one of my favorite projects to do each year.

First, we started by reading this book:

Next, we did a pocket chart sorting activity to test our ability to distinguish between goods and services.

After that, I asked the students to think about businesses in our town, or in neighboring towns. Once they gave me the name of a business, the next job was for them to decide if the business provided goods or services. In some cases, we discovered that a business could provide both! Here is a picture of page one of our list:

Finally, the students spent time creating their businesses. We did a little research so they could capture the essential details of their chosen business. As you can see, some of them nailed it!

Our elementary school--which has a two-tone brick color, green roof and clock tower.

Fleet Farm--which you will recognize if you are from our state!

Our local high school. Notice the school colors above the name.

When the students were finished, I created two streets on our bulletin board: Goods Street and Services Drive. The buildings were placed on their corresponding street. The students were so proud of their creation--and rightly so!