Work and Money
💰 What do we really need? How do we earn what we want? This Work and Money video for kids brings the basics of economics to life for second grade students. Through colorful visuals and clear narration, students learn about the difference between needs and wants, how people earn money, and how saving, spending, and working all play a role in daily life.
🧑🏭 Understand Jobs, Money, and Community in a Kid-Friendly Way
Students are introduced to jobs in the community, from service workers to producers and consumers. They’ll see how workers provide goods and services, and how people make choices about how to spend or save what they earn. This video makes abstract economic concepts tangible, relatable, and fun — all from a child’s perspective.
🎥 This work and money video for kids also explores the importance of goals, effort, and making smart choices. Students learn how people decide between needs and wants, what saving up looks like, and why every job — from teacher to trash collector — plays a part in how our communities function.
🏆 Perfect for any Grade 2 economics or community unit, this video is a must-have for introducing basic money skills and real-world problem solving. It supports lessons on financial literacy, responsible decision-making, and understanding how people work together to meet needs and build a strong community.
Video length: 7:30 minutes.
Worksheets
Quiz
Work and Money Cloze Activity
Work and Money Fill-in-the-Blank Sheet
What Would You Rather Be
Draw a Scene
Universal Resources
National Standards
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Topics Covered
People have needs & wants
Needs are things like water, food, & shelter
Wants are usually fun items like a bicycle or a television
Things that we don’t have enough of are thought of as scarce
Money can also be scarce because we often don’t have enough
We can get more money when we earn it at our jobs
People can choose many types of jobs
Some of these jobs are called service jobs
Other people may choose to work without getting paid. They are called volunteers
Some people may work in factories where goods are made
Goods are traded for money which means that we can buy or sell
Countries can also buy and sell goods with each other
Classroom Ideas
Cloze Practice
A cloze piece has full sentences used in the virtual field trip with blanks where students can write in the information that is missing. This task requires close listening to the trip in order to complete it.
Coral reefs are the _______ type of ecosystem in the world. They’ve been around for over _____ million years.
Answers: oldest; 240
Alternatively, you could have students create 5-10 cloze statements and they could share those with the class.
A third alternative is to distribute the cloze worksheets before watching the video. Students can fill them in as they watch.
Art and Social Studies
Draw a scene from the video.
Explore Vocabulary
Identify key vocabulary terms while previewing each video. Prompt students to find the meaning of each word as they watch the video. Example: What do the words consumer, budget, and expense mean? Think about the meaning of these words as you watch this video.
Art
Draw a picture of your future career.
Visual Learning
Offer videos to struggling learners as another way of creating knowledge and accessing information.
Classroom Ideas for ALL Videos
Dozens and dozens of ideas that you can use in your classroom along with our videos!
Related Videos
Grade 2 - Our Government At Work
Grade 2 - Early Americans
Grade 1 - All About Work
Grade 3 - Businesses At Work
Grade 2 - Land and Water Around Us
Grade 2 - Living Together
Grade 3 - I Am A Consumer
Video Subscriptions
When you only need one video- Unlimited viewing of 1 video
- Post-trip quiz + resources for 1 video
- Access to Closed Captioned version of 1 video
- Lowest-cost option
Teacher + Class Subscription
Teacher + Students- Unlimited access to the entire video lesson library
- All quizzes + learning resources
- Access for 1 teacher + all students
- Access to all Spanish videos + resources
- Access to all Closed Captioned videos
- Best value option for one teacher
School-wide Site License
All teachers + All students- Unlimited access to the entire video lesson library
- All quizzes + learning resources
- Access for all teachers and all students
- Access to all Spanish videos + resources
- Access to all Closed Captioned videos
- Best for school administrators supporting their teachers & students
- Up to 500 students – $450/year
- 500-1,000 students – $600/year
- 1,000+ students – $1,000/year
