This document provides an introduction to basic economic concepts for kids, including: - The difference between wants and needs - Supply and demand and how scarcity affects both - How people and societies are interdependent for goods and services - Goods which can be consumed or used, and services which are actions done for others It includes examples and a quiz to help explain the concepts in a way that is easy for children to understand.

1. ECONOMICS For Kids

2. #1 Want vs. Need A need is something you have to have, something you can't do without. A want is something you would like to have. It is not absolutely necessary, but it would be a good thing to have.

3. Needs… Healthy Food Water Shelter Wants… iPod Touch Ice Cream New Toy

4. Want vs. Need Quiz Is a house a want or a need ? Is a car a want or a need ? Do you want or need a new toy? How about medicine? Is it a want or need ? Click on want or need to answer!

5. 1. A house is a need . People need shelter. Back to Quiz

6. 2. A car is usually a want . A car will take us to work, school, or anywhere we need to go. But we can also take a bus or ride a bike. Back to Quiz

7. 3. You might think you really need a new toy – but it is only a want . Back to Quiz

8. 4. Medicine is usually a need . Very Good! You have completed the Quiz. Click on the blue arrow .

9. #2 Supply and Demand What do you think this means?

10. What is Supply ? Supply is how much of something is available. For example, if you have 6 apples, then your supply of apples is 6.

11. What is Demand ? Demand is how much of something people want. If 6 people want apples, then we can say that the demand for apples is 6.

12. Demand 6 people want an apple there are only 2 apples the demand is greater then the supply >

13. Scarcity Think of a thing that you like to have. What would your life be like if you suddenly couldn't get any more of it?

14. #3 Scarcity… People deal with this kind of problem every day. It's called scarcity . It comes from the word scarce , which means there isn't a lot of it or it isn't always available.

15. Scarcity is a measure of supply . When strawberries are ‘out of season’ or scarce , then the supply of strawberries is low. And if many people want to buy strawberries when none are available, then demand is high because of a low supply caused by scarcity .

16. When things are scarce , we have to make choices. A choice you might have to make is how much you are willing to pay for something. If strawberries are normally a low price, then they might have a higher price when they are scarce .

17. #4 Interdependence What do you use in your daily life? Do you listen to a radio? Do you watch TV? Someone made that radio and TV and your family bought them. If you want to listen to the radio, watch TV, or read a book, you are dependent on someone else to make those things.

18. Interdependence means that you as a person depend on other people for certain things. The same is true of families, towns, and even countries. People like you, get different things from different people. In other words, you can't produce everything you need.

19. #5 Goods and Services A good is something that you can use or consume, like food, CDs, books, a car or clothes. The idea is that you will use it, either just once or over and over again. A service is something that someone does for you, like give you a haircut, fix you dinner, or even teach you Social Studies. You don't really get something solid, like a book or a CD, but you do get something that you need .

20. The one thing that sets goods and services apart is the ability to touch them. You can touch a good , but you can't touch a service . You can touch the result of a service but not the service itself.

21. Assignment: Take a class ‘blind survey’ of Supply & Demand. Create a column chart depicting the data collected in the survey.

22. Sources www.soscialstudiesforkids.com http://www.kidsbank.com/ http://pbskids.org/cyberchase/games/calculator/ http://ecedweb.unomaha.edu/lessons/lessonsK-5.cfm http://www.frbsf.org/education/activities/drecon/askecon.cfm http://www.econedlink.org/lessons/index.php?lesson=13&page=teacher