KinderTown

As part of our past social studies unit, we created our own classroom economy!  For this, we learned the difference between needs and wants.  We learned that there are things we need to live like water, healthy food, shelter and clothing, and things we want, but do not need to live.  These include candy, toys, cars and iPads.

We also learned that there are two kinds of jobs that grown ups can have; someone who sells a good (like farmers, builders, and car salesman), and someone who provides a service (like doctors, teachers and police officers).  We defined goods a something you buy that you can touch.  A service would be a job that someone does to help you.

Finally, we learned that everyone in the world can be producers and consumers.  A producer is the person selling a good or service and a consumer is a customer.

With all this new knowledge, we set out to create our own city - KinderTown!  The children were split into 2 groups, half were producers and half were consumers.  We switched half way through, and played this for 3 days so that everyone could try different jobs.  Just like grown ups, the consumers were given wallets with money inside.  If they ran out of money, they could go to the bank to take more out. If they ran out of money again they needed to get a job in order to shop more later.

Here are as producers and consumers!

Our nail salon

The grocery store

The veteranarian / pet store 

The restaurant

Car dealership / car wash

The bakery

The bank (with Mr. Ron)