Chapter 5: The Power of Investing
LESSON GOAL
BY THE END OF THIS LESSON,
you’ll understand what risk and reward mean when it comes to investing. You’ll learn why all investments have ups and downs, how to stay patient, and why time is your best friend when growing money.
💬 let’s break it down
Remember how we talked about planting a money tree in the last lesson? 🌱
Well, even the best trees go through bad weather sometimes. That’s how investing works — your money can grow a lot, but it doesn’t always go up right away.
Here’s what you need to know:
📉 Risk means there’s a chance your investment could go down or lose value for a while.
📈 Reward is the good stuff — when your money grows and becomes worth more than you started with.
⏳ Patience is the superpower that helps you stick with it even when things get a little shaky.
Some investments are low risk (safer but grow slowly), and some are high risk (can grow fast but might drop too). The key is to know what you’re comfortable with — and to stay in the game long enough to see it grow.
Even adults get nervous when their money drops, but smart investors stay calm and give it time.
🧠 ANALOGY: Investing is Like Riding a Roller Coaster 🎢
Think of investing like getting on a roller coaster. There are ups, downs, twists, and turns.
If you jump off at the first dip, you’ll miss the fun part — the big climb to the top!
But if you stay on, buckle up, and trust the ride, you’ll enjoy the full experience and end up where you wanted to go. The same is true for investing — the ride might be bumpy, but it usually goes up over time!
🤔 critical thinking questions
Why do you think some people panic when their investments lose value?
How can being patient help your money grow?
Would you rather have something grow slowly and safely or fast with more risk?
How can you decide what level of risk is right for you?
✍️ journal entry: “Would I Stay on the Ride?”
Imagine you invested in a pretend company, and the value dropped for a few weeks.
Would you feel nervous? Would you want to pull your money out?
Write how you would handle it and why staying patient might be the better move.
Optional: Draw a roller coaster and label the ups and downs with how you’d feel at each point.
👨👩👧👦 ACTIVITY WITH FAMILY OR FRIENDS: Risk or Reward?
What You’ll Need:
Paper or cards
A dice or spinner
A few pretend “investment options” with different risk levels
What to Do:
Write 3–4 fake investment choices:
Lemonade Stand (low risk)
Comic Book Company (medium risk)
Rocket Shoes Startup (high risk!)
Take turns “investing” pretend money in one option.
Roll the dice to see how your investment did:
1–2 = loss
3–4 = no change
5–6 = gain
Talk about how each person felt after seeing their result — would they invest again?
🎯 What This Teaches: Risk can be scary, but learning about it helps us make better choices — and not panic when things dip.
💵 real-life practice: Watch a Stock with a Parent
Ask a parent or guardian to help you look up a real company’s stock price (like Disney, Nike, or LEGO’s parent company).
Check it once a week for a month. Track:
Did it go up or down?
How would it feel if it was your money?
What do you notice after a few weeks?
🌟 Bonus: Choose a pretend stock of your own and start tracking it weekly!
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