Give It Up

Try the following activity to help your child understand that people must make choices and that, when people choose, they give something up.

1. The next time you're out shopping with your child or you visit a shopping web site with your child, take a paper and pencil with you.  Swing through the toy department (or books, clothes, wherever your child will have significant wants!).  Make a list with your child of five items he or she wants to buy that each cost $5 or less.  Take the list home to complete the activity.
    
2. At home sit down with your child and ask him or her to rank the five items, with the number "1" being the item wanted most and so on.  Encourage your child to think of good points and bad points about each item.
    
3. After you've completed the ranking, circle the top two.  Suppose your daughter's first choice is a yo-yo and her second is a tie-dyed T-shirt, then she "gives up" the yo-yo.
    
4. Ask your child to draw a picture of the two items, to circle the picture of the item that he or she would buy, and to put and "X" through the picture of the item he or she is giving up.
    
5. Emphasize the idea that spending choices ALWAYS involve giving up something.  If a child grasps this idea at an early age, it should help waylay the cry of "But I didn't think I would have to give that up!" when spending choices are made.