Elementary: Kindergarten Financial Literacy Concepts
EARN, SAVE, SPEND, GROW
Students will learn to identify needs and wants, define saving, understand the reasons to wait before spending money, and identify tasks they or their family members can do to earn money.
BIG IDEAS
- We make choices every day, sometimes between two things we want.
- Different people want different things.
- Money can be earned by performing jobs and tasks.
- Numbers help us count how many things there are, and they can also tell us how much something costs.
OPTIONAL QUESTIONS
- How are my wants the same or different from other people’s wants?
- Which are more important: needs or wants?
- What does it mean to save money?
- Why and how would I save my money?
- Why do people have jobs?
- What are some jobs I can do now?
LEARNING OUTCOMES
- Identify needs and wants.
- Define saving.
- Identify reasons to wait to spend money.
- Identify tasks that students or family members can do to earn money.
Vocabulary
Social Studies Standards
Betty Bunny Wants Everything
Standard: ECONOMICS Standard K.4.1
Financial Literacy Concept: Identify needs and wants. Which are more important: needs or wants?
Concept Match: Needs and Wants
Description: In this lesson, students learn about wants, choice, and scarcity. They listen to the story Betty Bunny Wants Everything and identify all the wants that Betty Bunny has at the toy store. Students learn that because of scarcity, they must make choices. They practice making choices by selecting a prize they want, a toy for one of the book characters, and finally a school item. They sing a song about choices and scarcity.
Needs vs wants Game
Standard: ECONOMICS Standard K.4.1
Financial Literacy Concept: Identify needs and wants.
Which are more important: needs or wants?
Concept Match: Needs and Wants
Description: Students play a game where they review items people can buy and decide which ones are needs and which are wants. Understanding how needs and wants are different can help you decide the best way to spend your money. Use this teacher-guided game to teach the difference between needs and wants. Could be a great activity to leave for a sub as it’s simple, visual and easy to facilitate
Community Workers & Our Needs/Wants
Standard: ECONOMICS Standard K.4.2
Financial Literacy Concept: Identify tasks that the student or family members can do to earn money.
Why do people have jobs? What are some jobs I can do now?
Concept Match: Earn
Description: Students will identify different types of work in the community and explain how each job helps people meet their needs (things we must have to live) and wants (things that are nice to have).
How Daniel Got What He Wanted
Standard: ECONOMICS Standard K.4.2
Financial Literacy Concept: Identify tasks that the student or family members can do to earn money.
Why do people have jobs? What are some jobs I can do now?
Concept Match: Earn
Description: This video helps students understand that people have to save to get the things they want. Daniel wants a new bike helmet and must earn income and save to reach his goal.
Bunny Money
Standard: ECONOMICS Standard K.4.3
Financial Literacy Concept: Define saving.
Why and how would I save my money?
Concept Match: Save and Spend
Description: In this lesson, students listen to the story of Ruby and Max, two bunnies that go shopping and make many spending decisions. Students are introduced to short-term and long-term savings goals to help them save for goods they want in the future. After a goal-sorting activity, students choose and illustrate their own savings goals.
Money, Money, Honey Bunny!
Standard: ECONOMICS Standard K.4.3
Financial Literacy Concept: Identify reasons to wait to spend money.
How might saving money improve someone's life in the future?
Concept Match: Save and Spend
Description: Students listen to a story written in rhyme about a bunny that has a lot of money in her piggy bank. Students distinguish between spending and saving and goods and services. They play a matching game to review the content of the story and to practice rhyming words.
Mathematics Standards
Counting Pennies and Dimes to Answer “How Many?”
Standard: COUNTING AND CARDINALITY Standard K.CC.5
Financial Literacy Concept: Numbers help us count how many things there are, and they can also tell us how much something costs.
Concept Match: Earn, Save, Spend
Description: Students will use counting strategies to determine how many objects (coins) they have, and answer questions such as “How many in all?” using pennies and dimes.
Counting by 10s, 5s, and 1s
Standard: COUNTING AND CARDINALITY Standard K.CC.5
Financial Literacy Concept: Numbers help us count how many things there are, and they can also tell us how much something costs.
Concept Match: Earn, Save, Spend
Description: Students will practice counting by 10s, 5s, and 1s in order to prepare for counting and adding the value of coins.
Make Choices Every Day — Comparing Groups to Decide Between Two Things
Standard: COUNTING AND CARDINALITY Standard K.CC.6
Financial Literacy Concept: We make choices every day, sometimes between two things we want.
Concept Match: Save
Description: Students will compare two groups of objects using matching or counting strategies and determine which group has more, less, or if they are equal—and connect this to making choices.
English Language Arts Standards
Speaking & Listening
Standard: SPEAKING AND LISTENING Standard K.SL.1
Financial Literacy Concept: Different people want different things.
How are my wants the same or different from other people’s?
Concept Match: Needs and Wants
Description: By the end of the lesson, students will be able to: Participate in conversations with peers and adults using age-appropriate vocabulary. Listen and respond to others in a respectful, on-topic way. Explain one thing they want and compare it with others’ wants. Identify similarities and differences between their wants and classmates’ wants.
“If I Had $100…”
Standard: WRITING Standard K.W.1
Financial Literacy Concept: Money can be earned by performing jobs and tasks.
Concept Match: Earn
Description: Students will use drawings and writing to express an opinion about what they would buy with $100 and give a reason for their choice.
“What Can We Do with Money?”
Standard: WRITING Standard K.W.2
Financial Literacy Concept: What does it mean to save money?
Concept Match: Save
Description: Students will be able to: Identify at least three ways people use money: spending, saving, and sharing. Explain (verbally and through drawing/writing) one way they might use money. Compose a simple informative piece using a combination of drawing and writing.
Curious George Saves his Pennies
Standard: WRITING Standard K.W.2
Financial Literacy Concept: What does it mean to save money?
Concept Match: Save
Description: Curious George Saves His Pennies is a children's book by H. A. Rey about George learning to save money to buy a red toy train, discovering the value of earning through odd jobs like raking leaves, and facing the challenge of his piggy bank going missing before he can make his purchase.
Additional Resources:
- Finance In the Classroom Additional Kindergarten Activities
- Junior Achievement K-2 Self-Guided Program Resources
- Personal Finance, Language Arts, and Mathematics: Kindergarten Curriculum Unit
- EconEdLink Education Personal Financial Resources: K-5
- Federal Reserve Teaching Resources K-5
- Smart Path All-Access Learning: Enabling Students with Developmental Disabilities
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