You can speculate for fun and learn how the stock market works via this fun challenge! Read on, right here 👇
Imagine your child has $10,000 they can invest in the stock market 💰. How much can they earn (or lose) investing in our fantasy stock market in 30 days? Don’t worry; it’s not real money, but a great way to learn!
We hand picked 10 different companies for your child to ‘invest’ in. To help with the maths, we also created a nifty Stock Tracker to enable them keep track of the stock they’ve ‘bought’ and it will also let them see how the share price has changed the value of their $10,000 over time. There’s also a printable worksheet they can use to keep track of their ‘investment’ offline.
Download materials:
Some basic terms explained.
The Stock Exchange
The Stock Exchange, or Stock Market, is a system used for the buying and selling of shares.
Stocks and Shares
📄 ‘Shares’ are small pieces of companies that people can buy. Once you buy a share you own a small part of a company. A share is, in simple terms, a very small part of a company. Companies offer these shares for sale so they can get money to improve their businesses. Investing in shares can be a good way to make money. Shares can go up in value, so when they’re sold again, you get more money back than you spent. Just by owning shares, you sometimes receive a payment too; this is called a dividend.
🏢 ‘Stocks’ is a more general word, and is used when describing multiple shares in multiple companies.
Find out more about how you can talk to your kids about the Stock Market in our guide to Talking about the Stock Market.
Below are 10 companies that your child might know of or can learn a little more about.
We’ve all heard of Apple, and there’s a very good chance that you know – or are using – one of their famous iPhones! Apple is one of the biggest companies in the world, and are known for their daring designs, cool computers, and stylish stores. They could be a good company to invest in because they are extremely popular and always releasing new products each year. Have a look at the graph below to see how Apple’s stock price has changed over the past year.
Have you ever wanted to build something in Minecraft, but didn’t know how? Or needed help researching a science experiment? Well, the chances are you’ve used Google to find out! Google started as an Internet Search Engine helping you find all of the websites in the world, simply by entering words and phrases. They also own some of our favourite websites like YouTube and created some awesome phones like the Google Pixel! Google is used all over the world by millions of people every single day, so you might want to consider investing your money with them due to the high demand for their services.
I know you’ve heard of this one! Disney is one of the best known and beloved companies in the world. Famous primarily for their classic children’s movies such as The Lion King and Cinderella, Disney also has several theme parks around the globe; including France, The United States, and Hong Kong. Disney also owns Marvel Studios, which make our favourite superhero movies like Spider-Man, Iron Man, and Captain America. Will Disney make you Iron Man amounts of money, or leave you with your pockets turned Inside Out? Look at our graph below and have a think!
Chicken Nuggets, Big Macs, Milkshakes, Happy Meals…is anyone else feeling hungry? It’s McDonalds! From delicious snacks to tasty ice cream, McDonalds is known and loved all over the world for their fast food. Be it for a quick bite or a family night out, McDonalds has been serving burgers and fries for a very long time. They currently have almost 40,000 stores worldwide! Would investing in McDonalds be the right choice for you? Take a look at the stock graph below to make your decision!
You may have played with many of the toys that Mattel has made, without even knowing it. They are in fact the biggest toy company in the world, having made some of the world’s favourite toys, including Barbie and Ken! Mattel has also created lots of television shows and movies, but mostly create dolls, action figures, and even Hot Wheels Cars and Thomas the Tank Engine! If you love playing with toys, then Mattel might be an investment for you. But remember to look at the stock graph below to decide if it would be a good choice!
Have you ever played with a Transformer toy? Or My Little Pony? Or shot darts from a Nerf gun? Then you’ve played with toys made by a company called Hasbro. Hasbro are also famous for their board games which includes one of the best selling board games of all time: Monopoly! They are the second largest toy company in the world, behind Mattel. Many of their toys have their own TV shows and films, too! Will investing in Hasbro leave you with your own Monopoly, or will you be left bankrupt? Look at their stock graph to make your decision
Roblox has become one of the most popular video games in the world, with over 9 million people playing it every month! That makes it more popular than Minecraft – wow! Roblox lets players build their own worlds, play with other gamers’ creations, or simply talk to friends. You can be a race car driver, an explorer, a pilot – anything you want! Roblox is what is called a ‘Free to Play’ game. However, if it’s free, then how does the company make money? They do this by selling ‘Robux’ as an in-game currency to buy upgrades. Would you consider investing in Roblox?
Nintendo must be one of the most recognisable brands in the world, and have created some of our favourite video game characters of all time! From the iconic Mario brothers and loveable Yoshi to the dastardly Donkey Kong and brutish Bowser, Nintendo has provided generations of gamers with recognisable characters and games. Nintendo don’t only make video games, but also have produced several games consoles including The Game Boy, The Super Nintendo, The Nintendo Wii and most recently The Nintendo Switch! If you love racing against your friends in Mario Kart or exploring as Link in The Legend of Zelda, do you think you will invest with Nintendo? Have a look at the graph below to decide if you should go ahead and Ninten-Do it or Switch to something else!
Nike are perhaps the most recognisable sports brands in the world, and are extremely popular with athletes such as gymnasts, football players, basketball players and almost any other sport you can think of! Maybe you’ve seen the famous Nike ‘Tick’ on Christiano Ronaldo’s football boots, Serena Williams’ tennis sneakers, or maybe you own a pair of Nike shoes yourself! Nike are also the owners of several different brands, including Converse and the famous Michael Jordan branded sneakers. If you’ve heard of Nike, will you ‘Just Do It’ and invest, or race right by this company? Have a look below to help in your decision.
The final company that you can invest with is Netflix. Over the past ten years, Netflix has become the most popular subscription based video streaming service in the world with over 200 million subscribers, that’s more than the populations of the U.K, Canada, France, and Australia combined! Netflix has created some of the most popular and best loved television shows in the world. Do you have a favourite show that you like to watch on Netflix? Have a look at our graph below before deciding whether investing with Netflix would be a good choice for you.
Download materials: 📈 Stock Tracker Excel | 📝 Stock Tracker Worksheet