Oddball shop expedition: the strangest thing under $5
Five dollars and a shop full of odd things. Your kid hunts for the strangest find, compares prices and makes the call.
- Time
- 90 min
- Cost
- $5 per kid
- Ages
- 5 to 12
- Where
- A thrift, rock or used-book store
What you need
- $5 in cash per kid, in an envelope with their name on it
- A finds card: an index card with three rows for the thing, the price and why it's strange
- A pencil
- Your phone, for a photo of your kid and recall checks
Before you go in
- Take a photo of your kid at the door, so you can show staff exactly what they're wearing if you get separated.
- Agree on a meeting spot, like the register. If they lose you, younger kids ask a store worker and older kids go to the spot. Nobody leaves for the parking lot.
- Younger kids stay in sight. Ages 5 to 7 shop beside you; older kids stay in the same section.
- Check secondhand toys at CPSC.gov/recalls before you pay. If there's a child under 3 at home, skip small parts and small balls.
Steps
- Give the mission. Give each kid $5 and the mission: the strangest thing under $5. Tax may be added at the register.
- Set the rules at the door. At the door, take their photo, point to the meeting spot, and say: ask before touching breakables.
- Hunt for three finds. Hunt for 30 minutes. Write three finds on the card: the thing, the price, why it's strange.
- Compare the finalists. Compare the three: strangest, cheapest, most useful at home. Ask if it would cost less elsewhere.
- Decide and pay. They pick one, pay and count the change. Keeping the $5 is also allowed.
- Show and tell. At home, each kid presents the find, the price and why it won. Save the card.
If it stalls
- If they fall for the first thing they see, say: "Great, that's candidate one. Find two more to beat it."
- If everything strange costs more than $5, point them to the bargain bin, the book cart or the small-stones tray.
Strangest find · price · change back
Signed off: can do this.Signed by Date