Valentines Day Math Activity: Budgeting and Financial Literacy

Here is a fun thematic mathematics lesson for your students in grades 4-6. They will use lots of math skills as they plan and "shop" for Valentine's Day items for their friends.

Here's how it works:

The teacher shows the class the four items they can shop for (erasers, pop-its, chocolate, notepads). Each item is a different price point from $0.60 to $1.25. Students think of how many kids there are in their class. The teacher gives each student a budget (they can all be the same or you can assign different budgets to easily differentiate this lesson). Students have to buy at least one item for each student in their class but not go over budget!

The lesson walks students through the process step-by-step:

There is a planning page where they can do rough calculations, try out different combinations, and change their minds. Encourage students NOT to rush through this part.

There is a simple spreadsheet where students put their final plan and calculate the exact cost to ensure they have stayed within budget.

There is a poster page for students to sketch exactly what they are going to buy and show the final price.

There is a reflection page for students to answer some deeper thinking questions and explain their mathematical thinking in words.

How to Use:

I would recommend projecting the PDF pages on your interactive whiteboard and walking students through a sample budget first. Especially show them how to use the spreadsheet (and multiply) to figure out the total cost.

Grades to Use With:

This product is designed for students in grades 4-6, especially those who are working on learning decimal operations. It could also be used in middle school or high school special education classes.

What's Included:

6 Page PDF:

Teacher Instructions

Shopping Items

Planning Page

Budget Page

Poster Page

Reflection Page

If you enjoy this product, check out other thematic math lessons in my store:
Grocery Game: Winter Holidays

Grocery Game: Spring Edition

Halloween Budget

Back To School Budget

Gingerbread Math: Fractions, Decimals, Percent