This a cool activity to use when teaching opportunity cost.

I walk around the room with two different types of sweets. I usually use maltesers and lollies. As long as there is a choice involved it doesn’t really matter.

I tell each student they can have one sweet and one only, forcing them to make a choice. Once they all have their sweet I let them eat it.

After this little treat, I give them a post it note each. I ask them to write on the post it note all the good things or benefits of that sweet. So, for maltesers they write down thngs like ‘chocolate’, ‘honeycombe centre’, ‘the crunch’ etc etc.

I then have a picture of each sweet on my interactive whiteboard and then they come up and stick their note on the relevant picture.

I then go through the post it notes explaining what they have missed out on. Bingo. Opportunity cost.

Yes, there is a chance that they will all take the same sweet. But, its never happened to me.

I then develop the concept from there.

Job done….......