BUILDING KIDS' Money $kills - Brief Article

Give kids a sense of real-life math with saving and spending activities

Take-out Menu Math Restaurant take-out menus make tasty math worksheets! Give each student or group of students a menu and a lunch money limit. Ask them to record the items that they will order and then calculate how much it will cost. First students can order a lunch for one, and then for two or for a whole family, keeping within budget. Challenge older students to calculate the tax and tip. Everyone will enjoy the imaginary feast.

Making a Class Budget Put your students' new knowledge to work by making a class budget together for a special project or trip. Encourage them to research costs, brainstorm ways of raising money, and make careful choices about how the money is spent. Investing in the planning and budgeting for the project will make it even more meaningful to the class when it comes to fruition.

Mini Grocery Store Practice everyday math skills by creating a mini grocery store in your classroom. Start by asking each student to bring in one nonperishable grocery item. Then create price tags for each item. Add 5, 10, and 25 percent sale signs and you have a great math center. Challenge students to successfully keep to a budget, using mental math or calculators. Use your sale signs to teach students about dollar value and percentages. Encourage students to make observations. Which items cost more? How many servings per item? What tips do they have for keeping to the budget? When you are finished with your unit, donate the grocery items to a food bank.

-Thomas Smith, Swarthmore-Rutledge School, Swarthmore, PA

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