Small businesses near school: a K–2 drawing map and teacher thread
Here is a quick K–2 routine that turns a familiar street into a lesson on small businesses: students remember shops they pass on the way to school or on errands, draw them on a long paper street, and talk about who each business helps. The SBA Office of Advocacy reported in 2026 that small businesses make up 99.9 percent of US businesses, so most shops your students know are small businesses.
Time: about 25 minutes. Grade: kindergarten to 2nd grade.
Materials: a long strip of butcher paper with a road drawn down the middle, crayons, sticky notes.
- Ask: "What shops or businesses do you pass on the way to school or with your family?" List answers with quick sketches: laundromat, barber, taco truck, pharmacy, gas station.
- Explain: "A small business is often owned by a person or family who lives near here."
- Students each draw one business on a sticky note and place it along the paper street.
- Point to two businesses and ask: "Who does this business help? What does it sell?"
- Add little arrows between businesses that help each other: the bakery buys flour from a store, the taxi takes people to the doctor.
- Finish with: "If you opened a small business on this street, what would it be?" Students add their idea in a different color.
Safety: keep it to places students already know. You do not need addresses, real store names or photos; drawings and general names ("the bakery") are enough.
Differentiation: students who need support can choose from picture cards of common businesses. Students who are ready can sort the street into businesses that sell things and businesses that sell help.
Which businesses do your students name first, and did anyone invent a new business for your street? Share in the replies.
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About this resource
- Shared by
- @UpOnlyLearning · Curriculum team
- Posted
- Oct 31, 2026
- Type
- Tip
- Grade
- Grades K–2
- Subject
- Business
- Language
- English
- License
- Free for classroom, co-op and tutoring use. Please don't resell.