Market Day - Economics for Big Kids

My students are absolutely in LOVE with this unit!  To say it was a favorite project of the year would be an understatement! If you study economics then you MUST have a Market Day!  I know some students are familiar with the concept but I really think this takes it a step further and combines many aspects of what we have been learning all year - reading, writing, social studies, and even math!

It all begins with diving into economics vocabulary! We discuss terms and what they mean then I explain the concept of Market Day to my students.  They really wanted to get ahead of themselves but we take it step by step.

We discuss solo vs. partner endeavors and how they work best.  They write about which they would like to do and why.

(these pages are the filled in examples - blank pages are included!)

We then discuss in depth about goods and services.  We brainstorm a list as a class and if they would be feasible or not.


We decide on our good or service.

Students also received a "business license" when their product was approved!  This was super important and had to be displayed on their station on Market Day

We get our budget sheets and rent items from the teacher and pay rent to sell in our location.  We also decided on a class what our price point would be.  I wanted a range so that no one would undersell and we agreed 2-6 for all goods/services in class.  We also decided that each goer to Market Day would get 20$ market money to spend.  They couldn't buy all the goods so they would have to choose.

We discuss advertising, location, and other concepts.  We tied in persuasive techniques we learned about previously and decided which advertising would work best.   I found Secret Millionaire's Club and we use some of these videos along with the great printables which are FREE!  They throw in a lot of math but I found it worked out perfect for my 4th graders!   They have quite a few episodes and I picked out what would work best for our class and our needs.

We then practiced and set up and invited 2 other classes via invitation to our Market Day.




After a student spent all their money - they were given a short 3 question survey and that helped decide awards!!

I cannot stress just how much my students enjoyed this activity!!  They really learned quite a bit about businesses! We also read the Lemonade War and made connections to the book - crossing the curriculum.

Reflection sheets are also included which were a large part of their grade!  They did such a fantastic job and I was super impressed by what all they accomplished.  Click any of the pictures to learn more.  This includes everything you need to make a Market Day happen in your own classroom and give your students an incredibly memorable learning experience. I plan on doing this for years to come with the great success we had!