• To enable pupils to prioritise effectively and make a clear distinction between the things people want and things people need.
• To understand that some things are more important than others and should be prioritised.

2) Instructions Things people spend money on

1. Ask the children to write down on 10 blank cards (different colour for each group), 10 things that people spend money on. Try to come up with different ideas – leave the instruction as open ended as this.
2. After 5 minutes each group should read out their ideas to the class – establish similar/different findings.
3. Write their findings on the board
4. If children struggle make suggestions such as:

a. Home rent
b. Food/toiletries
c. Clothing
d. Electricity/Gas
e. Train/Bus Ticket?
f. Car petrol
g. Phone bill
h. Water bill
i. Car park ticket
j. Eating out – restaurants
k. Books/magazines
l. Sweets and chocolate
m. Activities – Swimming, Bowling, Cinema or Ice skating
n. Stickers, posters, toys
o. CDs / music / DVDs
p. Computer games
q. Sky TV
r. Medical costs/dentist
s. Car tyres
t. Savings – piggy bank or moneybox?

Using the hoops - Categorising what we spend money on

5. Try to establish 3 main categories for the items:
6. Things that are essential/vital items.
7. Things that keep us safe, healthy or teach us something.
8. Things that make us happy or entertain us – luxury items.
9. There needs to be 3 large hoops laid out on the floor labelled with these categories. They should be separate at this stage.
10. Each group (depending on time available) should categorise each of their cards by putting them in one of the hoops. They will probably argue that some could go in 2 of the hoops, but for now they must choose one category.
11. They should note how many of their group’s cards went in each category.

Group discussion – choices, what is really important?

12. Group discussion about the justification of certain items in certain categories as children place them in each.
13. Group should be encouraged to make observations about the amount of items a group had in each hoop. (e.g. one group may have only chosen luxury items!).
14. Ask the groups the question ‘Which is the most important category?’. As children they may not be concerned with certain ones as their parents pay for them…. are they aware of the money spent on things in the home?

Development activity – Creating importance diagrams

1. Ask them independently to share £100 out between the 3 areas and write it in rough books – would it be an even split? Why might there be weighting? Feedback to the class and look at the differences.
2. Independent task – with a calculator if they wish or using a basic spreadsheet in excel, ask the children to spend £500 on an expenses sheet using the list of things collected in the session – they can use any of the expenses created.
3. Create one long line of all the expenses in order of importance from the most necessary to the least.
4. Create a Venn diagram with the 3 categories using the hoops or on large sugar paper
5. Establish where some expenses fill 2 of the categories or even all of them!

3) Resources

• Blank expenses sheet (could be created with the class from the initial activity on smart board spreadsheet).
• 3 Large hoops (labelled as above)
• Coloured blank cards for the children to write 10 things on.

4) Key Vocabulary

• Expenses
• Essential, safety, health, luxury
• Priority
• Budgeting

5) Cross Curricular links

• Maths – calculator work, Venn diagrams
• IT – spreadsheets, data handling software.