Money Spent Well!

Hello!

This activity will take you outdoors with your class! 

As part of the unit on money in Mathematics, I took my class for some shopping. The trip was planned to give them a realistic experience in dealing with money. It also helped them use their skills of adding and subtracting two-digit numbers, effectively.

You will need some planning beforehand:

• I suggest that you inform the parents a week before the trip and ask them to send a shopping bag and some money with the kids in an envelope/purse (we kept it to 50 rupees for all).
• A demo of the shopping activity in class before the actual trip helps. Students get a practice in calculating the money spent (addition) and the change they would get back (subtraction).
• Discuss some of the points to remember; like: asking for a bill, checking the price of an item before buying and being courteous to the staff.

Let's go!!

On the field trip day our excitement levels knew no boundaries!! 

It was a short yet fun ride to the departmental store. On reaching there, we divided ourselves into smaller groups, each accompanied by a teacher. The aim was to buy a few items within our budget keeping in mind to bring back some change.

Kids enjoyed exploring the different sections and picked up the items they needed. They were thrilled to shop and at the same time careful with checking the prices before adding them into their shopping bags. I too bought something for my kitchen. 👧

At the billing counter, they calculated the money spent (adding up the numbers) and the change they should get back (subtracting the total from 50).
Like good customers, they asked for their bills! It was a pleasure to see them spend their money wisely!

We had an exciting time and we came back with a feel-good shopping experience.

P.S. - If you are unable to take your kids out then, you could set up a shop in your class or at home using empty cartons, wrappers, stationery items, etc and the kids could experience something similar indoors.