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Teaching economics can be so fun, and it can be fun for students to learn!
Teaching 3rd graders economics focuses on needs vs. wants, producers and consumers, goods vs. services, opportunity cost, supply, and demand, & saving and spending. It is a relatable subject area that brings in real-life situations.
Financial literacy is the goal of teaching 3rd graders economics.
Budgeting, saving, debt, investing, giving, etc., are all concepts we want students to understand when teaching economics.
This is a super simple activity but helps drill the idea of capital, human, and natural resources into our students’ heads (in a fun way!).
On chart paper, make a quick chart with three columns. Write out Capital, Human, and Natural.
Read a book aloud.
I usually use fairy tale books that the kids are already familiar with, then they can focus on the various resources and not the story itself.
As you read the book aloud, students can raise their hands and name things they see/hear that fit into each of these categories.
This works AWESOME with the Three Little Pigs especially, but any fairy tale works well!
Little Red Riding Hood examples:
Natural resource = wolf, flowers,
Human resource = woodcutter
Capital resource = axe, house
Once kids get the hang of it, you can also use this as a simple literacy center!
Students will create their own businesses!
They get one day to plan, and then a day to set their business into action.
During the planning phase, they think of a service that they want to offer other students.
It could be a restaurant, a nail salon, a movie theater, etc.
The kids will bring in food for a restaurant, nail polish for a salon, bring in a iPad and movie for theater, etc.
Other students will have a set amount of “cash” (just fake funny money that you can print off and make copies of) to visit other businesses.
Students will see that they have to make choices regarding their wants and needs, as well as practice making change.
Since I do not want any students to be sad that no one chose to “visit” their business because they are out of money, I will also give kids a chance to earn more money.
For example, cleaning up the room or helping me out will gain more money.
This could be a week-long behavioral incentive as well ?
This real-life activity is a sure-fire winner in any classroom!
Before getting into any hefty classroom economy projects, I encourage you to start with teaching the basics.
This digital economics bundle comes with 6 different resources to help you build a foundation of the economy. Included are:
The activities will help the students understand the initial concept of each topic by using basic drag-and-drop features and will then lead them to identify, as well as explain, these concepts with short answer questions.
Students LOVE all things digital, and they are going to love this Google Slides resource.
Click HERE to check it out!
My favorite activity to get you started teaching 2nd graders these concepts are eight color by number economics worksheets along with an answer key.
Kids love completing these Economics Activities Color By Number, and they are a fun twist to the standard worksheet!
Color-by-number social studies will TRANSFORM your social studies block – kids LOVE completing these!
Kids first answer economics questions.
Each answer choice dictates a color next to it (like green, red, blue, etc.).
Students will color the coded picture based on the answer that they choose.
It includes the concepts like wants & needs, goods & services, producers & consumers, barter & trade, natural, capital, human resources, and economic choice & opportunity cost.
Each includes an econ-themed picture (like community helpers, buildings, currency, etc.!).
Click HERE to check these economics worksheets out!
The Glitter in Third FREE Resource Library is a treasure trove of both FREE digital and paper products (ESPECIALLY for all things seasonal… perfect when you totally forget that tomorrow is St. Patrick’s Day).
Leave your deets below to get the password sent directly to your inbox!
There are endless ideas for teaching economics activities (I have another teaching economics blog post that you may enjoy – click HERE to read!).
Often we need to just look at the world around us to spark an idea for teaching economics!
It is important to use real-life scenarios as much as possible so students start to connect hard work and success.
Have a blast with your economics activities! You are going to ROCK it!
Hey there, I’m Kelly! I I love helping teachers save time with technology and resources so they have more hours in the day to spend with family and friends. Take a look around to find new ideas that you can implement in your classroom today!
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