Ideas for Grown Ups
Before sharing these Concepts for Kids, be sure to review Free Trade.

Concepts for Kids

1.  People use the money they earn to buy things that
​make their lives better.

Words for Kids to Know
product - something someone gets, makes, or
                   grows
service - a job someone does to help another
​                   person

 2.  Sellers want to sell products and services to earn money themselves.
 
3.  Sellers try to offer goods and services that buyers want at prices they will pay.

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Words for Kids to Know
trade or trading - the activity between buyers and
                   sellers
​markets - places where people trade

​4.  Free markets and free trade mean the sellers are free to sell what they want and  buyers are free to buy what they want, as long as they both agree on the price. ​​

 Literature Connection

I, Pencil
          by Leonard E. Read
The message of this story is invaluable: many different jobs are done to produce something simple. Though it is written for children, the format and wording may be hard for them to understand.
Download the original.

This animated version has some difficult vocabulary but the visuals are wonderful.

The Tuttle Twins and the Miraculous Pencil
          by Connor Boyack
In this retelling of Leonard Read's famous I, Pencil story, the Tuttle twins go on a field trip to a pencil factory. With diagrams and illustrations, readers can grasp the huge cast of workers from all over the world who cooperate to produce this everyday object. 

How Did That Get in My Lunchbox? The Story of Food
by Lucia Gaggiotti
While celebrating the tastes, colors, and textures of seven common lunchbox foods, this story explains where and how the foods are grown, processed, and transported.  The illustrations are very upbeat and hint at the nationalities of the workers involved. The story ends with a short discussion of the five food groups and how different foods promote health. Though no mention is made of free trade, the book makes clear the large number of workers involved in food production without a bureaucrat in sight. 

​Who's Buying? Who's Selling? Understanding Consumers and Producers
by Jennifer S. Larson
With full page color photographs, large text, and only a few sentences per page, this book is a simple introduction to economic concepts. It defines, illustrates, and gives examples of consumers, producers, resources, buyers, sellers, prices, markets, costs, benefits, supply and demand. 

Related Topics

Work and Specialization