Role-playing ‘shops’ is a popular activity that allows early years children to rehearse many aspects of financial education. Buying things, and realising that you can’t have something if you don’t have enough money, helps children develop an awareness of how money is used and what it is worth. A variety of money-related issues can be introduced by varying the nature of the shop.
Introduction
Theme |Becoming a critical consumer
A fantastic way for children to learn about buying goods and making choices on how to spend their money, through role play. You would need 20 minutes per group of children, but you have the flexibility to spend as little or as much time as you wish on this activity.
Themes
This activity will cover the following themes from the Young Money Financial Education Planning Framework:
- Becoming a critical consumer: choices about saving and spending
Learning objectives
This activity will cover the following learning objectives from the Young Money Financial Education Planning Framework:
- I know that I can spend money in different places and on different things, e.g. buying toys or going on the bus, and that these may cost different amounts.
- I can make simple choices about how to spend my money.
Quality Mark
The Financial Education Quality Mark gives educators confidence that the financial education materials they are using are of the highest educational value, contain accurate and up-to-date information and are engaging and relevant for young people.

About this activity
Timing: 20 minutes
Key vocabulary
buy, cash register, cashier, coins, change, money, pay, price, price tag, purse, spend, wallet
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