Today I was lucky enough to lead two classes in an exploration on the concept of consumerism. For this first look at this section of the You and Your World Grade 2 curriculum I used a fun SMARTboard review of wants verses needs followed by an engaging activity that our students loved.
We gave each child a fake 20$ with their name on it and had them place it under one of three images they wished to purchase. After making their choice we had them watch the commercials for these
We gave each child a fake 20$ with their name on it and had them place it under one of three images they wished to purchase. After making their choice we had them watch the commercials for these
products and then re-vote on what one item they would purchase with their 20$. These commercials were geared at kids and made for a great discussion time afterwards; many of them had changed their votes. We covered how commercials try to inform us of what we want or need, business interests in making money off of kids and adults, and being a contentious consumer who thinks about the content of commercials before letting them affect what we may think we want. Many of the kids told me they had changed their votes because the commercial made another product look like more fun, made them feel happy, etc. Our class was quick to note that they need to make wise financial decisions and not be influenced by the misleading nature of advertising, even in grade two. This will have them in tip-top shape as we have a visitor from the bank coming in next week to talk about how to use our money.