JULIE FANELLI'S CLASS NOTES

We have been so busy getting Hayground Market ready for its Grand Opening, that October seems to have flown by. We are still making products for our store, scheduling class visits, writing invitations, making flyers, and deciding on prices for our opening next Monday. We have had many conversations about what to charge for the items we made, and what sorts of things affect the cost, like the amount and type of materials used, time spent on crafting, and the size of the item. It turns out making brooms and wands takes a lot of time, so we decided to host a broom and wand making workshop this Wednesday and Thursday at recess, so kids can come in and decorate their own product, while checking out what our store has to offer.

Students also recognized that using more materials for one item results in fewer items made, and consequently fewer happy customers and less revenue. We realized that making things by hand is A LOT OF WORK. What if we run out of inventory? Well, the kids decided that we can take orders for products if we run out before the day is done.

We have discussed cost, profit, reinvesting profit, alternate forms of currency, and bartering. We know that our work will not be through after our opening on Monday. We will assess what worked, or didn’t work, figure out our net profit (if any), and take an inventory of our raw materials for our next seasonal shop.