Classroom Super Store!
I always save our Economics Social Studies unit (learning about wants, needs, goods, services, jobs, income, spending, etc.) for the end of the school year. I do this because I pair it with a fun 2-week long activity that doubles as a classroom management hack that gives your class the little boost that they need to make it to the end of the year without coming off the rails- haha! Read below to see how I manage this fun activity and CLICK HERE to grab the Super Store Resource!
Introducing the Super Store
While learning about Economics during Social Studies, students learn that in order to buy our wants and needs, they need to have jobs so that they can earn an income. I tell students that for the next 2 weeks, they will have jobs to do and they can earn income from ME if they do their jobs and do them well! Students get sooo excited about the idea of earning money for doing their jobs. I let students know that the money that they earn can only be used in our classroom (I called mine Panther Bucks since my school mascot was the Panthers, but I have also called them “Super Bucks” in the past because students spend them at my “Super Store!”).
Jobs to Earn Super Bucks
There are a 3 jobs that students can do each day to earn “Super Bucks” in our classroom:
Unpack quickly and quietly in the morning and start on their morning tubs or open their “ketchup folders”.
Show kindness all day long to their peers.
Receive a “good class report” from their Specials teacher (art, PE, music, etc.)
If students do these three things during the day, they can earn $3 a day (3 Super Bucks). I have students write their names on the backs of their Super Bucks, and keep them in their “wallets” (just a white business envelope that I give them to decorate).
I also may hand out Super Bucks randomly throughout the day to people going above and beyond in their jobs. This gives students the opportunity to earn a little extra money, and it helps keep students on track all day long.
Students earn Super Bucks for 2 weeks, and at the end of the 2 weeks, they get to shop in my Super Store!
Setting Up the Super Store
When I set up my Super Store on the last Friday of the 2 week period, I set it up on my small group table. I always put a fun table cloth down on the table (mine is from the party section at Target), and I put my Super Store sign out on it as well.
I organize the different Super Store merchandise in colored trays that I found at the Target dollar spot. All of my merchandise is from the party sections at Walmart, Target, or Dollar Tree. It doesn’t have to be expensive- some of the most popular items that sell are my classroom printable coupons that I put in the Super Store. Those coupons can be found HERE. There were a few years where I had families donate the different items, but I found it was more exciting for the students to not know what would be in the store instead.
When pricing the “merchandise” I use the table tent prices from my Super Store Pack. You’ll have to think about your class and which items you think they’ll like the most and price those the highest (every class is different each year- some years they love the light up bouncy balls, and some years they love the glittery lip gloss rings! hahaha!).
Think about how much money the average student in your class has earned, and price your items so that each student is able to buy 3-5 things (depending on what they pick out).
Letting Students “Shop” in the Super Store
On the morning that the Super Store opens, I have students browse the table as they come in to the classroom. Once everyone arrives and unpacks, I have them count up their money and tally it on a piece of paper to count it. Then I have them write the amount on their “wallet.”
After counting their money, I bring them to the small group table and have them sit on the floor around it. I explain each item (super quickly) so that they know what everything is and so that they can also begin thinking about what they want the most.
I give the class a task to do (something to work on, or do centers, etc.) while I call 4-5 students at a time to the table to shop. I set a small timer for 5 minutes and when the timer is up, the shopping needs to be finished for that small group.
To make things easy, I give shopping students a brown paper bag to put their Super Store purchases in, and when they are done shopping and spending all of their money (yes, have them spend it all unless you plan on doing the Super Store again) their brown shopping bag has to go right into their backpack and can’t be opened until they get home. I just set that rule and stick to it so that I don’t have littles playing with toys all day long.
Different Ways to Use the Super Store Pack
If you don’t want to use this resource as a culminating event to your Economics unit, you can simply use it as a classroom management technique instead and you can have students earn Super Bucks for going above and beyond while periodically open your class store for them to spend their money.
-Welcome to the Super Store sign (in color and B&W)
-Table-tent price tags for each section of your store ($1-$20)
-Generic "Super Bucks" template (B&W)
-Editable "Super Bucks" template (B&W) ***This template is only editable in Microsoft PowerPoint***
Let me know if you end up using this resource in your classroom, and tag me in any social media posts!
I would love to see your Super Shoppers at the Super Store!
