Little Shop Of Packaged Goods

We recently created a store for Little Sister. This is a game that both boys have enjoyed in the past (and still does) and have been used for real-life math lessons. I saved up my packaging for weeks in preparation. These included plastic vegetable containers, cardboard packaging, and canisters. I then restuffed all the boxes using pages of a phone book (you will get a LOT of stuffing out of one book) and taped them shut.

We filled up the berry and veggie baskets with a selection of foods and labeled them. For price tags, we used garage sale labels from the dollar store.


It was soon apparent that we needed money before making any purchases. Zee and Boo quickly set to work minting some new cash. Afterwards, whenever there was any shortage of certain denominations, they went to the "bank" and came back ready to shop. Little Sister has no concept of money and would trade whatever cash she had for the purchases.

The game started simply with purchasing and restocking, with elements slowly added when the need arose. It reminded me very much of the Reggio Emilio approach to learning.

A few days later, we added coupons to the mix. These were given out with every purchase, and promptly used. They offered excellent deals, such as "free popcorn with purchase" (a $3 savings, mind you), and $1 off any Indian Food. Some days, there would be sales of certain items, and these were quickly snatched off the shelves.


The most funny part, I thought, was when Boo was short on cash for a purchase he wanted to make. He went off, and, upon returning, slapped this down on the table. Welcome to the world of commerce.