Teaching 21st Century Skills with a Classroom Economy

One thing that I learned during my student teaching and still implement today is how to have a classroom economy. It seems like a lot of extra work but the learning that comes from it is so worth it.

So what is a "Classroom Economy"?

A classroom economy is when students have jobs, get paid, pay taxes and rent and are given opportunities to spend and save their money at different times during the year. In my classroom, students receive their wallets at the beginning of the year. I ordered these on Amazon several years ago and they have held up very well. I just write their student numbers on them so that it is easy to figure out who it belongs to if it falls on the floor or gets misplaced.

Students get paid $10 per week as long as they do their classroom job and follow classroom expectations. If they don't do their job or have a difficult week, their pay drops to $5. Two of my classroom jobs include the bank teller and bank manager and they used to pay the students. After students get paid, they go and pay their rent and taxes. They pay $2 per week to rent their desk and $2 per week for taxes. I can see so much learning happening on these "pay days". When students only have a $10 bill and need to pay $2 for taxes, they have to figure out how much change they should receive. They also love to take their money out (when I tell them it is an okay time) and sort and count it up. This is great for addition practice and skip counting.

When do they get to spend their money?

It is totally up to you as to when you have students get to spend their money. I have seen a lot of teachers who let students shop every week. I personally can't find the time to work it into my schedule weekly so instead we open the Class Store 3-4 times per year. It is normally right before holiday breaks when it is already crazy.

Classroom Store vs. Class Auction

I used to only ever open a "Class store". It was a process because I could only have a few students shopping at a time and had to have something else for the other students to do while they were waiting. I still like having a "Class store" a couple times a year but it is definitely not as easy as a "Class Auction". The "Class Auction" is when you pick out a bunch of prizes that you think students will want to buy but instead of giving them a set price for the item, you auction the item off. My favorite thing to do during the class auction is to have something called mystery bags. I take plain paper bags and put a variety of items inside (homework passes, candy, no shoes in class, small toys and even more classroom money). The kids love the element of surprise and end up spending the most on these mystery bags. I love class auctions because it really is a great example of supply and demand.

Check out my Supply and Demand Auction Freebie!

So, Why Should I have a Classroom Economy, again?

Classroom economies are great for many different reasons. First of all, they teach students important life skills such as making change or counting money. Second, they are great for number sense. Students are motivated to count their money and have to practice subtraction when they are shopping and spending their money. Lastly, it is great for reinforcing social studies economics skills such as supply and demand and spending and saving.

Check out some more of my Social Studies Products on TPT below!