Economis Mini-Lesson: Grades 5-8

Economis Mini-Lessons: Financial Literacy Games

(NOTE: We are in the process of developing additional games, so be sure to check back on the site often to see our new offerings!)

PRIMARY SCHOOL AGE

Ed’s Bank Game Overview. This game from practicalmoneyskills.com is great for young students (grades 1-2) as it will engage them in making decisions about spending and saving and will reinforce their recognition of coin values.

Piggy Bank Tag Game Overview. This is Ele:Vate’s non-Internet version of the Ed’s Bank game. It gets kids in motion—you will need a gym or open field. The game teaches the same concepts as Ed’s Bank, yet may be of interest to your older students (grades 3-5) simply because of the physical exercise involved in the play.

School Trek Trip Game Overview. This game’s object is for the player to save sufficient funds over a period of time to enable the player to go on the school trip. Throughout the game students will face decisions as to whether to spend or save, and they keep a running tab of their income/expenses in order to help them plan and budget so as to earn the school trip.

Budget Busters Game Overview. Budget Busters! is a game about budgeting and choice-making that reinforces concepts and vocabulary from the grades 1-4 Economis curriculum lessons.

MIDDLE SCHOOL AGE

Savings Quest Game Overview. This game from AGedwards.com allows youth to create a virtual identity, then enter a world in which they will work, earn a salary, and budget that salary so as to provide for their needs and wants, and save toward some goal they determine.

Portfolio Power Game Overview. This game allows youth to practice principles of investing by creating an investment portfolio. While students earn (or lose) money on their investments, they are quizzed on their knowledge of investments.

Money Traps Game Overview- Middle School Version. This game involves kinesthetic movement to help students learn about different financial pitfalls and how to avoid getting "money-trapped."

The Business Decisions Game Overview. In this game, teams of students create and manage their own businesses, helping them learn about making wise financial decisions so that their business will survive.

Budget Busters Game Overview. Budget Busters! is a game about budgeting and choice-making that reinforces concepts and vocabulary from the grades 1-4 Economis curriculum lessons.

HIGH SCHOOL AGE

Reality Check Game Overview. This brief game from Jumpstart Coalition provides teens with an opportunity to see how much money they will need to earn to support different life style choices.

Money Traps Game Overview- High School Version. This game involves kinesthetic movement to help students learn about different financial pitfalls and how to avoid getting "money-trapped."

Credit Clue Game Overview. This game is modeled after the classic Parker Brothers whodunnit game, Clue. However, instead of solving a murder mystery, you must investigate financial habits and determine who made the blunder when using credit!

Great Vehicle Hunt Game Overview. This game from consumerjungle.org gets teens involved in all aspects of car-buying, from research to financing to shopping and test driving.

Hand of Fate Game Overview. This game helps youth understand the value and differences of betweem insurance types and investments.

Financial Jeopardy Game Overview. This game draws heavily from the on-line game Moneyopolis, developed by Junior Achievement. In our version, teens test their financial literacy knowledge in a format like the TV game show, Jeopardy.

Can You Make Ends Meet? Game Overview. This activity simulates real-life experiences by dividing students into four “families” that have just moved to a new town, and must decide on a living situation, transportation options, and other such financial life decisions. Each family is given a profile and a set of life events they experience for four consecutive months, and the goal is that at the end of the four months they will "make ends meet!"