Welcome to Kid Town where YOU design the perfect community! Before you throw the party, hold on. Running a town is more work than you think. There's lots of fun involved but there will also be a lot of work and tough decisions involved.

Get ready to build your community! 

We're going to start by getting familiar with the town. You'll look over the map, brainstorm some names for the streets and decide on a name for the town.

The toughest parts will be taking turns to share and really listening to each other. The second most challenging element will be COMPROMISE! This isn't about winning or losing, friends or not friends, but about, "What is best for the town?".

Take a look at the map and get ready to share.

Student Notebook

We've set up and named out town, now we need to focus on the elements of economics. How does our town make and use money? What is the difference between a service and a for profit business? What are needs and what are wants, and how do they affect the economics of kid town? 

Observation Task 1

• What businesses are in the center of town? 

• Service: Provides a necessary service like police, fire, mail at little or no cost to the citizens

• For profit: These businesses are usually privately owned and are designed to make money. They may also offer services but they come with a cost to the citizens (consumers).

• Sort the businesses in kid town into "service" and "profit" businesses.

Observation Task 2

• Let's focus on the "for profit" businesses.

• Of these businesses in kid town, which ones provide a business or service that is a "want"? Which ones are a "need"? Is the difference clear? 

• Want: these are things which we want, sometimes very badly, but that we do not HAVE to have to survive. These may make life easier or nicer but we can exist without them. 

• Need: These services or goods are essential, existence without them MAY be possible but most often it is not. 

• Sort the for profit businesses into "wants" and "needs" categories.

You are now going to be a business owner. You are going to create a for profit business. Consider carefully, this is a small town and your business should be something which will add to the economy of the town and give the benefit the citizens of kid town.

Your business will need the following:

• What is the business (what do you sell)?

• What is the name of the business? 

• What specific items or services do you provide? (Include at least 10 but no more than 15)

• Lastly, you will need a sign for your business. You can include a logo if you like but it needs to be unique to your business. (Much like the giant yellow "M" represents McDonalds.)

Kid Town Inventory