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Needs and Wants Worksheets for Kindergarten

8 free PDFsUS Letter or A4Answer key includedNo login

A needs and wants chart, a picture sort, a cut and paste sort, circle the needs, my needs, a story about choosing, pick one and a saving tracker.

Download the needs and wants worksheets

Needs and wants chart and sorts

A needs and wants chart, a picture sort, a cut and paste sort with the same pictures, and a circle the needs page.

My needs

Draw food, water, clothes and a home, then trace each word.

Making choices and saving

A story about choosing between two wants, a pick only one page and a coin tracker for saving.

Print at 100% (actual size) for the cleanest tracing lines.

About these needs and wants worksheets

A need is something we must have to live: food, water, clothes and a home. A want is something that is nice to have, like a toy, a treat or a bike, but we can live without it. Telling the two apart is one of the first money ideas children learn, and it helps them understand why families make choices about what to buy.

Start with the needs and wants chart, then sort pictures with a pencil or with scissors and glue. Both sort pages use the same ten pictures. Circle the Needs gives a fresh set of pictures to check understanding, and My Needs asks children to draw and trace the four basic needs.

The story about Max and his birthday money shows that we cannot always have everything we want, so we choose. Children practice making their own choice on the Pick Only One page, and the saving tracker shows how saving a little at a time helps pay for a want later. Pages with one right answer have an answer key on page 2.

Standards

  • C3 D2.Eco.2.K-2Identify the benefits and costs of making various personal decisions.
  • C3 D2.Eco.1.K-2Explain how scarcity necessitates decision making.
  • C3 D2.Eco.10.K-2Explain why people save.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.K.5.ASort common objects into categories (e.g., shapes, foods) to gain a sense of the concepts the categories represent.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.K.2Confirm understanding of a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media by asking and answering questions about key details and requesting clarification if something is not understood.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.K.2Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose informative/explanatory texts in which they name what they are writing about and supply some information about the topic.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.K.1.APrint many upper- and lowercase letters.
  • CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.K.CC.B.5Count to answer "how many?" questions about as many as 20 things arranged in a line, a rectangular array, or a circle, or as many as 10 things in a scattered configuration; given a number from 1–20, count out that many objects.

How to use them

  1. Read the chart together and ask, "Could you live without it?" for each picture. If the answer is yes, it is a want.
  2. Do the needs and wants sort as a class first, then let children do the cut and paste page on their own.
  3. Use Circle the Needs as a quick check. Children circle every need and count them.
  4. Read Max's story aloud, then talk about a time children had to choose between two things.
  5. Send the saving tracker home. Children color a coin each time they save one and count their coins at the end of each week.

Teaching tips

  • Some things can be a need or a want. Shoes are a need, but a third pair of fancy shoes is a want. Water is a need, but soda is a want. Talk about these when children ask.
  • Food is a need, but sweets like candy, lollipops and ice cream are treats, so they are wants.
  • Keep the talk about choices positive. Every family chooses, and saving is a smart way to get something later.
  • On My Needs, children can draw their own home, favorite healthy food or clothes, so every drawing is a little different.
  • Pair the saving tracker with a real jar or piggy bank at home.

Questions teachers and parents ask

What is the difference between needs and wants for kindergarten?

Needs are things we must have to live and stay healthy: food, water, clothes and a home. Wants are things that are nice to have, like toys, treats, games and bikes. A good test is to ask, "Could I live without it?"

Is there a cut and paste needs and wants worksheet?

Yes. The cut and paste sort uses the same ten pictures as the pencil sort, so you can pick the one that suits your class or use both.

How do I teach saving money in kindergarten?

Explain that saving means keeping money to use later. Read Max's story, then use the saving tracker: children choose something they want, color one coin each time they save, and count how many coins they have.

Do these worksheets have answer keys?

Yes. The sorts, the cut and paste page, Circle the Needs and the story questions each have an answer key on page 2. The chart, the drawing pages and the saving tracker do not need one.