Hobbies And Interests
The Money Game
Learning money values takes time for children. Treat your little girl and her friends to a game where they have to figure out how to purchase items and budget money. This is a fun game to play with pre-school through elementary aged children.
Purchase pretend money and price tag stickers from your local dollar store. Turn your daughter's room into a store. Select several of her favorite toys and assign each toy a price. Create different price values that include both dollars and cents. Put the items on display so that her room resembles a retail store. Use a toy cash register or set up a small table for the check out area.
This game is even more fun if the girls can play dress up at the same time. Ask each girl to select a fun dress up outfit from your daughter's room with pocketbook and fun accessories. Purchase inexpensive clothing and accessories from the second hand store if you don't have dress up clothes.
Pass out the fake money to the girls and make sure each child receives the same amount. Review money basics and be sure each girl knows how much money she has. Be sure they have just enough money to purchase only one or two items. Play the part of the shop keeper and invite your shoppers into your store.
Tell the girls to select toys that are in their budget. When the girls are ready to purchase toys, ask them to come to the cash register. Tell the girls how much they owe and they need to figure out how many dollars to give to you. If you need to make change, ask them how much change they think they should receive.
Allow the girls to take turns playing the shop keeper and to assigning different price tags to the toys.
The Savvy Shopper
Teach the girls early in life about how to read labels and comparison shop. Assign prices to several similar household products and ask the group to identify which product is the most expensive and the least expensive and why.
Another way to become a savvy shopper is to learn how to identify specific ingredients or materials in a product. Select several more items from home or your classroom and ask the girls to select the item with a one specification. For example, line up four blouses made of different fabrics. Ask the girls to identify the blouse made of 100 percent cotton.
Perform the same exercise using grocery items. Teach the girls about trans fats, saturated fats, sodium and carbohydrates. Select several items and ask the girls to identify the item containing the most trans fats or calories.
Shopping Etiquette
Play a pantomime game with the group and ask the girls to identify good or bad shopping behavior. Create several index cards with a description of a behavior. For example, one behavior could be having a tantrum in the store or stealing an item.
Call each girl up to the front of the room and ask her to randomly choose a card, read it then perform it. Allow the girls to use words and gestures to make their point. Encourage the group to identify the behavior and explain why that behavior is good or bad when you are shopping.