What the workshop teaches

The core ideas are scarcity, choice, cost and price. Children see that making something uses materials and time, that buyers compare options, and that a price too high or too low both cause problems. They also meet the idea of opportunity cost: spending on one thing means not spending on another.

Use play money or tokens rather than real cash. This keeps the focus on decisions and avoids awkwardness for children whose families have less to spare.

Sample session: the token market (ages 8-12, 90 minutes)

Groups of three or four run a stall selling simple items they make in the session, such as bookmarks, paper badges or folded origami. Each group starts with the same budget of tokens to buy materials from the adult's supply table.

• Materials: paper, card, colouring pens, string, scissors, play tokens, price labels, a record sheet per group.

• 0-15 min: explain the rules. Each child also receives ten tokens to spend as a shopper later.

• 15-40 min: groups buy materials, decide what to make and how many, and produce their stock.

• 40-50 min: groups set prices and write a short sign explaining why their product is worth buying.

• 50-70 min: market opens. Half of each group sells while the other half shops, then they swap.

• 70-90 min: groups count tokens, subtract material costs and discuss what sold, what did not and why.

Adapting and reflecting

For younger children, fix all prices at one or two tokens and focus on making and choosing. Older groups can introduce a mid-market event: the supply table runs out of card, so materials cost more. Ask how this changes their prices.

In the reflection, ask children to name one decision they would change. Many notice they made too many of one item, or that a clear sign sold more than a lower price. If the school runs a real charity sale later, children can apply what they learned there.

What children take away is a practical feel for costs, prices and trade-offs. They have spent a budget, made something to sell, and watched buyers choose between stalls. Words such as profit, cost, demand and scarcity now attach to something they did. Keep the record sheets; they make a useful starting point for simple maths work on adding, subtracting and comparing totals.

Key points

• Use tokens, not real money, to keep the focus on choices.

• Give every group the same starting budget so results are comparable.

• Make the reflection about decisions, not about who earned most.

• Introduce one change mid-market to show how scarcity affects price.

Ready-made resources

Printable session plans and materials for this topic are available from EduTrend Contents: W4C-140 Our World Workshops.

Photos: David Trinks, Annie Spratt / Unsplash