Grades K–2Ages 5–8 · Unit 1.2 · Needs and Wants
Needs or wants? A free sorting worksheet for K–2.
Needs and wants is the first idea in money a child can genuinely hold, and it does not require a single number. This one-page sheet gives six everyday things to sort into two columns, then asks the child to draw one need and one want of their own — which is where the thinking actually shows up.
No account. No email. Nothing collected about your child.
What is on the page
- Six picture-and-word items to sort into needs and wants
- A draw-your-own box for one need and one want
- An answer page with what a good answer looks like
- One question to ask when the pencils go down
What it teaches
- Telling a need from a want in everyday language
- That the same thing can be a need for one family and a want for another
- Explaining a choice out loud
How to run it
The sorting is the easy part. The draw-your-own box is where you find out whether it landed — and disagreements about which column something belongs in are the most useful part of the lesson, not a problem to correct.
The other free worksheets
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The Credit Card Trap
A $4,100 balance at 24.9% APR, and four ways to pay it down.
Get this one ›See all four free financial literacy worksheets, read what kindergarten learns about money, or start with our guide to financial literacy for kids.
Where it comes from
Unit 1.2 · Needs and Wants of a 266-lesson curriculum.
This sheet is one activity, unchanged, from Financial Foundations™. Teachers can run a free five-week pilot with one class. Families can take the Family Edition home.