Lesson 1 of 5
What is money?
4 min read
Money is what people use to buy things. When you want an apple, a toy, or an ice cream, you give the shop some money, and they give you the thing. Money can be shiny coins, paper notes, or even numbers on a card that grown-ups tap.
A long, long time ago, before money, people had to swap things. If you had apples but wanted bread, you had to find someone with bread who wanted apples! That was tricky. So people invented money — something everyone agrees to use — so swapping became easy. Now you can sell what you have for money, and use that money to buy anything you like.
Here's the big secret about money: it doesn't grow on trees, and it doesn't come from nowhere. Grown-ups get money by doing work — a job. When you're older, you'll do work too and earn your own money. That's why money is special and worth looking after.
Key terms
- Money
- What we use to buy things — coins, notes, or numbers on a card.
- Buy
- To give money and get something in return.
- Work
- A job people do to earn money.
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