The school store is an important component of the classroom economy. Children look forward to buying things at the store because it is a fun reward for all of their hard work. From a learning perspective, it teaches the value of saving, because students are eager to save up for larger-ticket items. We suggest opening the school store once per month.

Gathering school store items

Get the community involved by asking local businesses or vendors to donate items. Ask parents to donate, too, and also involve your peers. Some items can be intangible.

Possible store items:

Preparation

15 minutes

• Make sure the items are labeled with prices. You can have a student help you.
• Identify the Store Clerk (either yourself or a volunteer student), who will take the students' money when they buy things.

In class

15 minutes

• Open the school store after the students pay rent.
• Tell the students to count out $3 from their cash envelopes for monthly rent. Collect (or have your Money Collector collect) the $3 from each student.
• Allow students time to count the remaining dollars they have in their envelopes after paying rent.
• Explain that they can spend as much of their money as they want at the school store, but that they might want to save up for larger purchases.
• Give the children time to shop at the store.

Follow-up discussion

10 minutes

After the store activity, you might want to take a few minutes to talk it over with the students. This is a great opportunity to reinforce the importance of saving.