Classroom Marketplace

My daughter has the best 3rd grade teacher.  During a unit on how commerce works, she created a classroom market place where the students learned about how to operate a small business.  They used a class currency to earn money, then created products to sell at their class market.  The students could use the money they earned throughout the unit to buy items from other classroom vendors.  In partners, they had to come up with a product, a plan to make the product in a time and cost effective way, then decide how they wanted to market their product.  Parents came in as guests to share their expertise in business to teach the students how to operate a successful buisness.  I talked to the 3rd graders about having a booth at a craft fair.

As the day for the market drew near, students could assign their parents homework, so they could earn some of their own spending money at the Market. ( I earned $5 for making my daughter's lunch!)

Handmade crayons called Cupcake Crayons.  They were made in cupcake liners in a muffin tin, so the end result looked like miniature cupcakes.   The girls used coiled pipe cleaners on the top to make it look like frosting on top of their Cupcake Crayons.  So creative!

These labyrinths were very popular.  We came home with 2 of them.  They were made using straws and shoebox lids. You will roll a marble through the maze. The more challenging the maze, the more they cost.  The boys even went to the local shoe store and asked for their old lids.

Not just any old friendship bracelet, but Rockin' Bracelets!

Handmade cootie catchers in a variety of colors and patterns.

Water wands made from decorated straws and joke books.  This booth even had a demonstration area for trying out the water wands.

Love the marketing!  Makes you want to buy more than one, doesn't it!

The classroom marketplace was a hit.  Everyone learned so much and walked away with great handmade items.