It’s important to teach kids about the economy at an early age so that they are able to make healthy financial decisions later on in life. Teachers can achieve this by engaging learners in captivating supply and demand activities within the classroom. Supply refers to the amount of a particular product or service that is available for people to buy, whereas demand refers to the desire or needs for those products or services. Check out our collection of 10 dazzling demand and supply activity ideas to help you get started!
1. Grocery Store/Market Roleplay
Set up product displays with different types of pretend food items, beef products, dairy products, and other agricultural products, and have kids act as consumers and shopkeepers as here. The shopkeeper can practice setting prices based on the supply of each item and the demand from customers.
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2. Shell Game
For a hands-on activity, students can set up a table with a variety of shells and act as sellers in markets. They could even decorate them. The sellers can try to convince consumers to buy their shells by explaining why they are in high demand or why they are rare.
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3. Wanted Poster Making
Have kids create a “wanted” poster for a fictional item. Have them use paper and pens as well as paint for this class activity. They can consider how much they would be willing to pay for each item and how much they think other people would be willing to pay. It’s a good way to teach them to consider prices and understand how demand and supply fluctuate.
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4. Wish-List Making
Have kids create a “wish list” of items they would like to have. They could then compare and contrast the pricey and cheap items on everyone’s list. You could have each child deliver a “package” with a gift to another, to make it more fun.
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5. Card Games
For an educational activity, play the card game “Supply and Demand” to teach kids about the basic concepts of supply and demand. For example, in one of such games, you play a president trying to balance production and consumption needs within your borders.
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6. Pretend Menu Game
Have kids create their own “menu” for a pretend restaurant. They can decide what dishes to offer and at what price; considering factors such as the cost of ingredients, consumer tastes, and the popularity of the dishes.
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7. Supply & Demand Graphs
Have kids create a supply and demand graph using real-world data. For example, they could gather data from companies on the price and quantity of a particular cell phone unit at a service provider store versus at the mall, over time and plot it on a graph.
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8. Class Party Planning
Have students plan a party and budget their resources based on the prices of different items. This can help them understand how to make trade-offs based on supply and demand and as a bonus, they get a party. Use these tips to increase the fun!
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9. Class Presentation
Give a digital learning class, and have kids study the supply and demand for a particular item, such as food products, agricultural products, or raw products, and create a presentation here; explaining how the factors of supply and demand affect the price and answering discussion questions from classmates.
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10. Career Supply and Demand Research
Have kids research the supply and demand for a particular job or profession; such as a doctor or other service producer and submit a paper explaining how the factors of supply and demand for a service increase and decrease the prices of the services.
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