White Pines

Some of your children may have been mentioning a fictional place we pretend to be in at school called White Pines.  We started a game we play each week where we practice civics, government, and economics. This is a pretend place where each child is a citizen.  Each day they go to work in a pillow factory.  This is how they make their money. 

Once they get paid, they have the option to save their money or spend it.  The stores open for the day.  Each child takes a turn purchasing the things they want or need, with the understanding that at the end of each "day" they have to eat their food and drink their water.  Each time a child comes to the store, I remind them that they should take care of their needs first.  "Make sure you have food and water!" 















Next we look at our options.  Do you want to buy a house?  There are two options.  The larger house is more expensive, but it is more to clean.  Those children who bought the smaller houses have more free time.  

How about a car?  The smaller one costs less money, but breaks down more easily and will have to get repairs done.

How about some things to keep busy?  Owning a television in White Pines is fun because you can turn on the television and channel surf (which is basically us acting out having a good time and laughing at the cartoons) or watch the news (where they hear all about the happenings in their city).  A robot is fun to take out and pretend with.  A few weeks ago the kids ran into a problem because some of the robots exploded!  Those unfortunate robots had to get "thrown out" because they were broken.  Sometimes toys break...

The children keep their treasures and organize them, play with them, and show each other what they've collected.  At the end of each "day" they have to eat and drink so they turn in a food and a water.  If they don't have a food or a water....it's not good news!

Each week there are new adventures in White Pines and the children absolutely love participating.  Those kids who tuned into the news this week heard Mayor Williams report that Farmer John's dog is going to have puppies soon.  They should be ready to adopt in a week or two!