Financial Literacy Month is an ideal time to help young people become more aware of financial responsibility. Do you often hear the words, “But I need it!” from your children, students, or even your partner? What distinguishes a want from a need? Food and housing, of course, are both needs. But food can be a want as well—think candy or junk food. Is ice cream a want or a need? After a long, stressful day, it certainly might feel like a need. How much housing is a need, and at what point does it become a want?
Check out this game, adapted from a classroom lesson on Wants and Needs from FUTURES: Financially Literate Kids for a Financially Literate Society™. Download the PDF. Share it on an iPad or print out a copy for each player.
Players will sort the images into needs vs. wants, circling needs and drawing a box around wants. Even early learners who can’t yet read can participate by looking at the pictures. It’s never too early to raise awareness of the importance of understanding wants vs. needs. In fact, we can probably all use a reminder. After all, companies shell out billions of dollars each year to make us “need our wants,” and it’s easy to get caught up believing we need far more than we really do—or can realistically afford.
Determine Your Own Wants and Needs
A great way to extend this game activity is to have kids continue the discussion with examples from their own lives. Depending on the circumstances, plenty of things can fall into either category—or both. Use the topics below to spark discussion—and have fun coming up with your own ideas.
Is summer camp a want or a need?
What about pizza?
A day in the city?
Going to visit cousins?
A new backpack?
Shoes?
Donating to a charity?
What else might be a need for one family and a want for another?
For more information about FUTURES: Financially Literate Kids for a Financially Literate Society™ for students in kindergarten through eighth grade or to download any of the 29 sections of the program, please click below.