Trade Fair

In our class we participated in a trade fair.  What a great way to exchange something that is just sitting around your house for something that you could actually use. 

The items that I took to trade were a gallon zip lock bag of wine works (I had been saving them to make some crafty pintrest cork board or hot pad, but never had the time), a set of plastic placemats that came with my daughters fundraiser stuff last fall (they were nice, but almost a year on the shelf, it was safe to say they were not going to be used any time soon), and a black infinity scarf with skulls on it (I loved the scarf, but never found the appropriate time to wear it; not a good fit for a school outfit, definitely not to church on Sunday or for a parent/teacher conference.  It was just sitting in the closet) and an extra copy of Silverlicious!

Maria loved the scarf! Randy took the book Silverlicious for his recently born daughter.  I believe that Julie traded for the table mats and Clare wanted the bag of wine corks.  I left with a ton of books to add to my library.   All this little stuff happily traded for more books!  I thought it was a good deal. At the end of the day some friends unloaded extras they didn't need while others were happy to take it off of their hands.

Often times when teaching Social Studies to young children they have no idea of what it was like for people to "trade" items instead of paying money for them.  Having a trade show such as this is a great way for students to develop a better understanding.  Students would also see how some friends would be willing to bargain more than one item to get what they really want.  One friend had the pedagogy study test; many of us were willing to barter everything for the bound book of gold!

When doing this project with a classroom, the students wouldn't have to bring things from home (you never know if they have permission or not), but they could make stuff in the classroom.  How great would it be for students to let their creativity shine and see what they can create!