A week or so before the Thanksgiving break, I took a few photos of the early elementary, level two and level three students, playing the Barter Game. First they read “The Story of Money” and answered questions about what they learned from the book. The book explains how bartering was the stepping stone for money. They learned about need vs want and how they can trade something they have in excess for something they need or want.

They are given guidelines about what their village needs and they determine trade quantities for the different items. They used chips of different colors to represent different Goods; white chips = vegetables, red chips = meat, skins and wool, blue chips = tools, etc. Black chips represent different Services, such as village defense and cultural enlightenment (art & paintings or performances).They set up their “shops” and then traded away. ~Dana

Tags: barter game, early elementary, montessori