How money flows
Activity 1 - Discussion
This is a discussion about how money flows. The following flow can be used for the discussion.
Introduction – Activating Prior Knowledge (5–10 min)
The lesson begins with an introduction to activate prior knowledge. The teacher starts with prompting questions such as “What do we do with money?” and “Where do you spend money?” Students share items and experiences, for example, buying groceries, tickets for a movie, or eating in a restaurant. These ideas are noted down to help anchor the discussion.
- Start with a warmup question: “What do we do with money?”
- Let students list things they can buy with money (food, water, tickets, clothes, groceries).
- Record answers on the board. Give the heading ‘What we get from money?’ or just say ‘What?’
Who Has Money? (5–10 min)
From there, the conversation moves to “Who has money?” Students are encouraged to identify that most adults have money and that adults earn it through work, rather than receiving it for free or from nowhere.
- Prompt: “Who has money?”
- Guide them toward understanding that most adults have money.
- Ask, "Where does your mommy/daddy get money from?" → Lead them to the idea of working to earn.
- Make a heading on the board, next to ‘What’ - The heading can say ‘Who has the money?’
Where Does Money Come From? (10 min)
Children are then guided to think critically about where money comes from. Misconceptions like “money grows on trees” are addressed playfully but clearly, explaining that money is earned by working and often stored in banks or post offices for safety. The teacher asks follow-up questions such as “Who puts money in the bank?” to help students recognise the link between people working, earning, and depositing money before they can withdraw it ater.
- Address misconceptions: money does not come from trees or appear "from nowhere".
- Give a heading on the board next to ‘Who’ - It can say ‘Where does money come from?’. Notedown the children’s answers. They could be ATM s, Banks, Post offices, wallets, Appa/Amma, basically anything.
- Once listing down responses is done, examine each response. For examples, wallet or bank was the response. Then a follow up question could be, ‘Who put money in the wallet? “How does money reach the bank?”
- Explain banks and post offices as places to keep money. Wallet is where we carry our money.
We can then ask, ‘what does your mother/father do? Do they go to office? What do they do there? Do they get money?’ (Choose only the parent who earns money. We will introduce ‘unpaid work’ as a separate idea’ in the future).
Transition: “So, to have money, what must we do?” → Work.
- How can you get money?
- Does your teacher get money?
- Does your cook get money?
- Choose more questions from the children’s context.
- Make a list of people they know, the work they do and note if they get money or not.
- Conclude with people get money when they work.
Worksheets
Worksheets below can be used to reinforce concepts discussed in the class.
Download How Money Flows Worksheet
Activity 2 - Reading a graphic book and role play
This graphic book presents a a step-by-step story of Ishita’s hospital visit. Students learn that getting medicine when sick includes several steps where money is needed: paying for transport to the hospital (petrol, taxi fare), paying the doctor’s consultation fees, and then paying at the pharmacy for medicines.
In the next part, this example is acted out through role-play, with some children taking the roles of patient, driver, doctor, and pharmacist. The activity reinforces that navigating even one situation can involve many different goods and services that all cost money.
Warm-Up (2–3 minutes)
Quick recall of Part 1 lesson: - What do we do with money? - Who has money? - Where does money come from?
Transition: “Let’s see how one person uses money in a single day when they go to the hospital.”
Read the following story of Ishita to children.
Download Ishita's Hospital Visit Graphic book
Discussion
Note the responses on the board as you ask questions about the entire scenario.
- How was Ishita feeling?
- What did she do when she felt sick?
- Where did she go first?
- What did she do at the petrol bunk?
- How much did she pay?
- Where did she go next?
- Who asked her to pay money at the hospital?
- How much did she pay?
- Where did she go next?
- How much did she pay for the medicines?
Let us summarise how she spent money.
- Petrol - Rs. 500
- Hospital - Rs.200
-
Medicines - Rs.250.
-
How much did she spend in total? (Let children respond using either their books or calculator.
- What are the things she bought? (Petrol and medicines)
- Did she buy anything at the hospital?
- Why did she give money to the receptionist? (To see the doctor)
- Which person saw her only when she paid the money? (Doctor)
Conclude
Travel to hospital (needs petrol → needs money)
Doctor visit (consultation fee → needs money)
Buy medicines at pharmacy (needs money)
So, we pay money
- to buy things
- to some people when they help us.
Worksheets
You can use the following worksheets for story recall and reinforcing the concepts discussed in the class.
Download Ishitas hospital visit Worksheet
Role Play of Ishita's Hospital Visit
Ishita visiting a hospital can also be done as a role play to make it more interesting for children. This can be a follow up activity after reading the story.
This is the lesson plan for role play.
You can download the entire lesson plan below.
Download Role Play lesson plan
Time: 10–15 minutes
Objective To help students understand that in daily life, money is needed at multiple stages—things we buy and people’s work/help.
Warm-Up (2–3 minutes)
Quick recall of Part 1 lesson: - What do we do with money? - Who has money? - Where does money come from?
Transition: “Let’s see how one person uses money in a single day when they go to the hospital.”
Assign Roles (2 minutes)
Select 5–6 students to play: - Ishita (the patient) - Petrol pump attendant - Receptionist at hospital - Doctor - Pharmacist (medical shop person) (If class is big, you can add extras like driver, nurse, cashier who collects money, etc.)
Materials to keep ready
- Make play money with paper chits written as 500, 200, 200 and 50 Rupees to be used by Ishita to make payments at various places.
- A wallet for Ishita to keep the money in
- A clip board with paper and pen at the hospital reception
- A prescription pad for the doctor. It can be a small notebook or a paper which is pre written.
- A bill book for medical shop attendant to write the bill. The bill could be prewritten.
- Medicines in one brown colour paper coveer to give to Ishita
Role-Play Script (5–7 minutes)
Teacher narrates while students act.
Scene 1: Ishita falls sick Ishita: “I am sick, I need to see a doctor.”
Scene 2: Petrol Pump Ishita (pretends to drive): “Oh! I need to fill petrol.” Petrol pump attendant: “How much petrol should I fill?” Ishita: “Fill for 500 rupees.”
Attendant pretends to fill → Ishita hands play money.
Scene 3: Hospital Reception Receptionist: “Please register and pay 200 rupees consultation fee.” Ishita pretends to fill form and pays ₹200.
Scene 4: Doctor’s Visit Doctor (examines): “You have an infection. Please take these medicines.”
Ishita: “Thank you, doctor!”
Scene 5: Pharmacy Ishita: “Please give me these medicines.” (hands prescription) Pharmacist: “Here are your medicines. Please pay 250 rupees.” Ishita pays and collects medicines.
Class Discussion (5 minutes)
Guiding Questions:
- How was Ishita feeling?
- What did she do when she felt sick?
- Where did she go first? How much did she pay at the petrol bunk?
- Who asked her to pay at the hospital? Why?
- How much did she pay for the medicines?
On the Board – Write summary:
- Petrol: ₹500
- Hospital fee: ₹200
- Medicines: ₹250
- Total = ₹950
Deeper Reflection:
- What items did she buy? → Petrol, medicines.
- What service did she pay for? → Doctor’s consultation.
- Who only saw her after money was paid? → Doctor.
Conclusion (1–2 minutes) Key Learning: We need money…
✅ To buy things (petrol, medicines)
✅ To pay for services (doctor, hospital staff)
✅ At many steps in a single activity like visiting the hospital
💡 Teacher wrap-up statement: “So you see, even in one small trip, Ishita had to spend money in many places. Money is needed for both things we buy and for people’s work.”
✏️ Teacher Tip for Younger Kids: Use play money, small props like a toy car, prescription slip, empty medicine box to make it fun.
Activity 3 - Cooking Chicken Biryani
This is a discussion activity where previously learnt concepts are reinforced using the example of cooking a dish - Chicken Biryani. The activity highlights how money is needed at multiple steps: buying ingredients from different shops and paying the cook for their work. A few worksheets are also presented.
You can download the lesson plan below.
Download Cooking Biryani Lesson Plan
Time: 15–20 min
Objective To help children understand:
- Money is needed to buy goods (ingredients).
- Money is also used to pay people for their work (the cook).
- Even for one dish, payments happen at many steps/places.
Warm-up (2–3 min)
Quick talk: “What do we do with money?” (buy things, pay people)
Transition: “Let’s see how money is used when we prepare food at home.”
List Ingredients (3–4 min) Ask: “What ingredients do we need for chicken biryani?” Teacher writes on board:
Chicken 🍗 Vegetables 🥕🥔 Spices 🌶️ Oil/Ghee 🧈 Basmati rice 🍚 Saffron 🌸
Where to Buy? (3–4 min)
Beside each ingredient, the class identifies where it is bought:
Chicken → 🏪 Meat shop
Vegetables → 🥬 Vegetable market
Spices, Rice, Oil, Saffron → 🛒 Supermarket / Grocery
Reinforce: “Do we get it without paying?” → No. We must pay money.
The Cook’s Role (2–3 min)
Discuss: “Now that we have the ingredients, who will cook the biryani?”
Children: “Cook!” 👩🍳
Teacher: “Cooking is the cook’s work. The cook also gets paid money for work.”
Vertical Flow Chart (make on board / worksheet)
Vegetables → Vegetable Shop → Pay Money
Spices/Rice/Oil → Supermarket → Pay Money
Meat (Chicken) → Meat Shop → Pay Money
Cook makes Biryani → Cook works for us → Pay Money
Class Discussion (5 minutes)
Ask Questions:
- Which things did we buy with money?
- Which person did we pay for doing work? (Cook)
- Why could we not take ingredients without paying?
- Can we eat biryani without ingredients? (No → need money to get them)
Concluding Message:
✨ We pay money to buy things.
✨ We also pay money to people when they work.
✨ Even for one dish, many payments happen in different places.
✅ Activity Outcomes for Children
By the end of this session, children will:
- Identify common goods we pay for (vegetables, chicken, rice, spices).
- Understand people’s work (cook, shopkeepers) also requires money.
- See that food on our table involves money many times over.
⚡ Teacher Tip: You can turn this into a role-play version too: one child is the parent, others are shopkeepers (vegetable seller, meat seller, supermarket cashier), and one is the cook. Use pretend play (tokens/coins, picture cards of chicken/veggies) to make it real.
Consolidation(5 min)
Students answer the following questions. And then do a worksheet.
If you choose to do the two activities on different days, the consolidation questions can be asked after each activity listed above. This will help with reinforcing the basic ideas.
If the lesson plan is being done in three days, then it is important to do introductory activities of what, who, where and then do the activities each day.
- What do we need money for? We need money to buy things and pay people when they help us
- How can we get money? We get money by working.
- Who has the money? Most adults have money because they work.
- When do we use money or pay money? to buy things and pay people when people work for us
Worksheets
Use the following worksheets to reinforce the concepts covered in this activity.