This site provides students, ages 3-5, with information about things they need to know to live financially smart lives. Activities are listed under each milestone they are introduced to such as needing money to buy things, you earn money by working, you may have to wait before you can buy something you want, and there is a difference between things you want and things you need.

In this lesson, students listen to the story and identify the scarcity problem the monsters had—not enough chairs for every monster to have one. Students wear a picture of a want they have drawn and play a version of musical chairs in which the chairs are labeled goods. Students learn that a good can satisfy a want. They also learn that, because of scarcity, not everyone's wants are satisfied.

In Kindergarten, students are introduced to the basic concepts of economics. People of all ages experience two important economic terms introduced here: needs and wants. The differences between a need and a want is where we spend our first chunk of time in this chapter.

This annotated kindergarten inquiry focuses on the economics concept of scarcity by developing an understanding of needs and wants and goods and services through the compelling question, “Can we ever get everything we need and want?” The distinctions between these constructs serve as the necessary components of an examination of the choices people must make when faced with potential limitations.

After reading books about and discussing needs and wants of families and discussing the difference between needs and wants, higher level students will complete a classification page (Odd One Out) to exemplify the differences between needs and wants. This lesson was developed by NCDPI as part of the Academically and/or Intellectually Gifted Instructional Resources Project. This lesson plan has been vetted at the state level for standards alignment, AIG focus, and content accuracy.

After learning about needs and wants and the difference between the two, students will get to budget “play money” to decide how to spend money on a budget to acquire needs and wants. Teacher may want to read books about needs and wants. Some books are listed in “Needed Resources/Materials” section. This lesson was developed by NCDPI as part of the Academically and/or Intellectually Gifted Instructional Resources Project. This lesson plan has been vetted at the state level for standards alignment, AIG focus, and content accuracy.

The introduction to this lesson is a brief online story about a little girl's visit to a pet store with her father. She considers several pets before choosing a "cute and cuddly" dog. Students are reminded that pet owners are responsible for keeping their pets safe, healthy and happy. A discussion of a pet owners desire to provide the best for their pets leads to an exploration of people's wants.

Through a story and activities, the student book introduces students to economic concepts such as saving, spending, budgeting, wants, goods, services and opportunity cost.

In this lesson, student will listen to the book, "A New Coat for Anna". Students will learn about resources, scarcity, costs, trade/bartering, and decision making through a young girl, Anna, whose mother wanted to buy her a coat but did not have the money. Students will explain how families have needs and wants and various ways in which people earn and use materials, such as money, for goods and services. Students will see how supply and demand effects the choices families and communities make.

For this lesson, students discuss what life events bring change into their home and how family meets their needs and wants.

In this lesson, students learn that we have needs and wants and how they those needs are met.