Here’s something interesting a second grader came up with when we were working on the Water Wonderland activity.  I’ve written about this activity before, but for those who aren’t familiar, it’s when kids get to make spending choices and at the end of the activity those with enough money get to go to Water Wonderland.  The key is that the kids don’t know about WW while they’re making choices.  The point of the activity is to show kids how important our spending choices are because if we spend all our money on things we don’t really need or want, we won’t have any left for things we really need and want.

So I got to the part where I describe the unbelievably incredible Water Wonderland, which, as I tell the kids, doesn’t really exist.  But those with enough money get to “go”.  Well I was caught off guard for just a second as one really determined second grader announced he was going to take back all the things he bought, get his money back, and head off to WW!

I have to admit, it was pretty creative thinking.  This option had never occurred to me.  Nor, I’m happy to announce, had it occurred to any of the other kids I’d done this activity with.  Because, as we spent some time discussing, it’s not really the right thing to do.  

We discussed it in terms of what’s fair.  Second graders are all about fairness.  Is it really fair to open and play with a toy and then go and return it because you decided you’d rather have something else?

It’s really a lesson on teaching kids to be ethical.   And, judging by the recent economic debacle and many of those who got us into it, it’s a lesson that can’t be learned early enough!