What Things Cost
A 40-minute Kindergarten lesson on reading prices in a shop and working out what you can afford.
What Things Cost is a free 40-minute Kindergarten to Grade 2 social studies lesson plan for Common Core standard D2.Eco.5.K-2 — find out what things cost in a local shop or market. It is timed across 5 sections, gives the exact wording to use where the wording carries the mathematics, names 3 misconceptions with the teaching move that addresses each, and ends with an exit ticket and a printable worksheet with its answer key.
- Grade:
- Kindergarten to Grade 2
- Length:
- 40 minutes
- Standard:
- D2.Eco.5.K-2
Kindergarten to Grade 2 · Economics
D2.Eco.5.K-2
Identify prices of products in a local market.
Objective
Students will be able to read a price and say whether they have enough to buy it.
Students are successful when they can
- Reads a price off a card.
- Compares two prices.
- Says whether they can afford something.
What you need
- A pretend shop with priced items
- Coins or counters
- The printable practice sheet linked at the end of this plan
The lesson
Warm-up — which costs more?
5 min- Show two priced items. Ask which costs more and how they know.
- Repeat with a pair that is close.
Teach — enough or not enough
13 min- Give a child five coins and send them to buy a three-coin item. It works.
- Send another to buy a six-coin item with five coins. It does not.
- Say the question every shopper asks: is my money more than the price?
- Do one where the money is exactly the price.
- Ask why the shop writes the price down at all.
“Look at the price, then look at your coins. Which is bigger?”
Guided practice — run the shop
12 min- Pairs take turns as shopkeeper and shopper with a fixed number of coins.
- The shopper says before each purchase whether they can afford it.
- They record one thing they could not afford.
Independent practice
8 min- Students complete the what-does-it-cost page.
- Read each question aloud.
Close
2 min- Give a price and a purse. Take can or cannot.
What goes wrong, and why
Each of these is a reasoning error rather than carelessness. The fix addresses the reasoning.
Thinks having some money means being able to afford anything.
Why: Money is money.
Fix: The five coins and the six-coin item, done for real. The shortfall has to be experienced.
Reads the bigger number as the better deal.
Why: Bigger numbers are usually better in maths lessons.
Fix: Ask which leaves more coins in your hand. Cheaper is better when you are buying.
Thinks the shopkeeper chooses the price on the spot.
Why: The shopkeeper says the number.
Fix: Point at the printed card. The price was decided before either of you arrived.
If they are not there yet
- Prices up to five only.
- Match coins to the price one for one.
If they finish early
- Buy two things with one purse.
- Work out the change.
- Say which of three items is best value.
Exit ticket
Cheese costs 4 coins. You have 3. Can you buy it?
What to look for: No, with a comparison of the two numbers. 'Yes' means the enough-or-not question needs another run in the real shop.
Printable practice for D2.Eco.5.K-2
Free to print and copy, answer key included. Each sheet can generate a fresh set of problems for a retake.
- What Does It Cost?Circle the best answer.
Questions about What Things Cost
How long does the What Things Cost lesson take?
40 minutes, split across 5 timed sections: warm-up 5 min, teach 13 min, guided practice 12 min, independent practice 8 min, close 2 min. The minutes are stated per section and add up to the stated length, so the plan can be cut or extended at a section boundary rather than abandoned halfway.
Which standard does What Things Cost teach?
D2.Eco.5.K-2 — D2.Eco.5.K-2, Economics for Kindergarten to Grade 2: “Identify prices of products in a local market.” In plain terms, find out what things cost in a local shop or market.
What do I need to teach this lesson?
A pretend shop with priced items, coins or counters and the printable practice sheet linked at the end of this plan. Everything listed is either ordinary classroom equipment or a free printable from this site — there is nothing to buy and nothing to prepare beyond photocopying.
What mistakes should I expect in this lesson?
Three, each a reasoning error rather than carelessness: thinks having some money means being able to afford anything; reads the bigger number as the better deal and thinks the shopkeeper chooses the price on the spot. The plan gives the thinking behind each one and the teaching move that addresses the thinking rather than the symptom.
How do I know whether the lesson worked?
The exit ticket asks: “Cheese costs 4 coins. You have 3. Can you buy it?.” No, with a comparison of the two numbers. 'Yes' means the enough-or-not question needs another run in the real shop. That tells you whether the class needs a reteach or a thirty-second conversation before you plan tomorrow.
Is there a worksheet to go with What Things Cost?
Yes — 1 printable D2.Eco.5.K-2 worksheet, linked at the end of the plan and free like the rest of the site. Each one comes with an answer key and 25 versions, so the practice after the lesson can be a different paper on every desk.
Is What Things Cost free to use?
Yes. The plan, its printables and their answer keys are free to read, print and photocopy for your own class, with no account and no email capture. It was last reviewed on 7 September 2026. Please do not resell it or republish it as your own.
Last reviewed 2026-09-07. Aligned to D2.Eco.5.K-2 of the C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards.