Teaching Supply and Demand with the Trading Game
Upper Elementary Economics Game Provides Hands-on Learning
Jun 5, 2009
First time playing a trading game? You may want to play this basic version first. Once students have the hang of how supply affects prices, this version is the perfect follow up. It uses a set of objectives to show that changes in demand affect price. Discussion questions at the end help students connect what they experience in the game with economic theory.
Elementary students role-play as a merchant or trader in this classroom marketplace. Merchants begin in villages and produce one of four commodities which they sell to traveling traders. With the money they earn, merchants buy commodities traders bring from other villages. As they acquire goods, their village grows. The first merchant to become a kingdom ends the game and is declared winner along with the trader who makes the most money.
Easy Trading Game Preparation
The rules are simple but the action is intense. Best of all, there are only three items to prepare.
Commodities are produced in the different villages. You will need four of them. Make them fit with your current history unit or the modern world. For example, use marble, olives, sheep and fish if your class is studying Greek history. Or lumber, oil, wheat and coal for a modern day approach. Represent them with pattern blocks. Have at least 20 per student and use a different color for each commodity. Borrow from other teachers or combine colors (ex. white and black blocks for marble) if necessary or use laminated squares of paper. Make sure to laminate so students cannot increase supplies with their own paper and scissors.
The game will also need currency. Use fake dollars from students’ math kits or gold pattern blocks to represent coins. If using paper, follow the same guidelines as above to ensure no counterfeit money and have at least 20 per student.
Next, prepare the objectives list and cards. The list shows the four different levels as well as how many commodities merchants need for each level. Pick one commodity of which merchants will need an additional unit. This simulates increased demand. For example, to move from the first to second level, merchants need five commodities: one marble, one olive, one sheep, and two fish. For each subsequent level, increase the number of commodities by one. To get to level three, therefore, they need eight commodities and thirteen for level four.
The objectives cards are used by merchants to show their level. Have enough cards for each merchant to show the four different levels: village, town, city and kingdom.
Playing the Game
Merchants begin with three commodities and three gold pieces. Throughout the game, they will only produce the commodity they begin with. Traders begin with five gold pieces. Each turn has four steps: growing, supplying, buying and selling.
First, merchants grow to the next level. They pay the teacher the necessary commodities and receive the objectives card showing the new level. Merchants will not always be able to do this.
Next, merchants are supplied with commodities and gold. Level one produces one commodity and one gold per turn. Each subsequent level produces one more commodity and gold. For example, level three merchants produce three commodities and three gold per turn.
Then the buying begins. Set a timer for two minutes during which traders visit merchants to see who is offering the best deals. When the timer goes off (you may want to call a ten second warning) traders select a merchant. If anyone does not, they lose the chance to buy that turn. More than one trader can select the same merchant but they may not change merchants. Traders can then buy as many or as little commodities as they want but warn your students. If merchants decide not to sell at the last minute, traders are out of luck. Similarly, if two or more traders are at one merchant and the merchant does not have enough for everyone, some traders will be out of luck. Of course, the commodity may go to the highest bidder if this is the case.
Once commodities are purchased (you may want to set a timer for that as well), traders visit merchants for two minutes to see where they can sell their acquired commodities for the best price. As above, at the end of this time, they must select a merchant and more than one trader can be at each merchant.
After all deals are done, traders go to the front so a new turn can begin.
The game is over when the first merchant reaches the kingdom level. At that time, traders count their gold to see which trader did the best.
Exciting Gameplay Leads to Teachable Moments
The trading game is an exciting way for students to experience how supply and demand affect prices in the real world. The teachable moments of this fun activity are endless and lead to interesting discussions long after the game is done. With minimal items to prepare, any teacher is only a few steps away from exploring economics with students in an engaging and hands-on way.
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