How to Teach Kids About the Stock Market

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The Stock Market is a great topic to cover with middle schoolers. This might sound surprising to you, but it’s true!  Kids are instinctive traders – they trade their lunch, jewelry, Pokemon cards, and many other things amongst themselves. This makes it easy to get them interested in the concept of trading stocks. And it is an easy topic to integrate into your homeschool (or as an after-school activity). Here is a list of resources to teach kids about the stock market.

YouTube Videos and Podcasts

To explain why a company lists on the stock market and how that works, I recommend the YouTube video How the Stock Market Works. This is an animated 10-minute explanation that will have the kids laughing and learning at the same time.

To explain the NYSE and give them a glimpse of what happens there, you can watch this YouTube video:  NYSE Trading Floor Tour.

This video is a bit longer, but talks about trading and investing in stocks. It is meant for people who aren’t familiar with the stock market, so it’s great for students!

FundaFunda’s podcast, Homeschooling with Technology, has a full episode on online stock market resources. You can check out the episode here. And make sure to click through and see what other episodes might be helpful to you!

Lesson Planning

Learning, Earning and Investing has lesson plans on all aspects of the stock market. The link here is to the middle school book, but a high school one is also available. In addition, there are many free lesson plans in the “In the Classroom” section of stockmarketgame.org.

FundaFunda also offers a web-based unit study centered around the stock market. This is self-paced and contains all the information you need to give students an overview of the concepts. 

Interactive Resources

To give your students an ‘inside’ view of what it is like to buy and sell on the stock market, sign them up for the Stock Market Game. Grades 4 and up, all over the world,  play in teams. Here in the US, the students receive $100 000 (virtual money, of course!) and 10 weeks to invest that money. The goal is to make the most profit by the end of the game. The game uses the actual stock market prices for each day’s trading. This allows students to experience the same ups and downs as real investors. The Stock Market Game is great for school classes, extracurricular groups, homeschool co-ops, and more.  

If your child would rather play on their own, then I suggest your students practice trading on How the Market Works. As a teacher, you can set up a contest for your class so they compete with each other. They have $10,000 of virtual money, and you can decide how long the contest will last.

If your family likes board games, then check out this Stock Exchange Board Game or Acquire, a game about building a portfolio in increasingly large corporations. This way, you can learn together as a family, and have fun while doing it!

Many students today have access to a smartphone. You can find many free apps that will help them track stock prices.

Books

Books are a great way for parents and students to learn about the stock market together.

​The Young Investor is aimed towards ages 9 and up and gives an intro to money, finances, and stocks. It also has fun projects for students to practice their skills!

I’m A Shareholder Kit is an engaging and informative book that will have students ready to invest in stocks. It is aimed towards preparing students to start investing money in stocks.

Go, Stock, Go! uses a cartoon style to talk to kids (and parents!) about the stock market. It follows a family as they learn together how to manage their money and invest wisely. 

Hopefully, these resources will help you teach your kids about the stock market in a way that’s fun for both of you!