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Family Activity Sheet
Clarence Gets a Bargain
Take It Home.
Five take-home activities that bridge the classroom and the kitchen table. Each one starts with a real moment from the book. None take longer than a grocery run.
The Kitchen Table is the Classroom
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Start HerePick Your Starting Point
No order required · Skip around freely
Page 2
Family Activities
Read Clarence Gets a Bargain with your kid first. Then pick whichever activity fits your week. Each one starts with a real moment from the book and ends with a quick conversation.
📅 Got 5 minutes?
- → Activity 5: Guess the Price (the family game)
🛒 Heading to a store this week?
- → Activity 1: Shopping Homework (the real kind)
- → Activity 2: The Clearance Hunt
- → Activity 4: Coupon Hunt
🏠 Quiet weekend at home?
- → Activity 3: The Two-Difference Test
¿Quiere esta hoja en español? Available at clarencegetsabargain.com/resources.
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Activity 1
Shopping Homework (the Real Kind)
Page 3
Comparison Shopping
⏱️15 min
📰2+ flyers OR websites
📖Pages 4–10
From the Book
Mom handed Clarence a stack of newspapers and told him he had homework: figure out where the best deal is
before you go shopping.
At home
1Find a Sunday paper, a junk-mail flyer, or pull up two store websites on a phone.
2Pick one thing your family is going to buy this week (cereal, juice, paper towels, anything).
3Find the same item in at least TWO ads.
4Write down the prices. Who's cheaper?
💬 Talk about it
- Did you expect that store to win? Why?
- What might make the more expensive one worth buying anyway?
Why it matters: This is comparison shopping. Clarence did it at the kitchen table before he ever left the house.
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Activity 2
The Clearance Hunt
Page 4
Markdowns & Clearance
⏱️10 min in-store
🛒Any store
📖Pages 13–18
From the Book
The “Clearance” sign that almost looked like Clarence's name. Mom explained: clearance items aren't broken — they're just last season's, or the store needs the shelf space.
At home (next time you're at any store)
1Find the clearance section. (Look for orange, yellow, or red stickers.)
2Pick ONE clearance item that catches your eye.
3Find the original price and the new price.
4Calculate: How much did the store mark it down? (For younger kids: which number is bigger?)
💬 Talk about it
- Why do you think THIS item ended up on clearance?
- Is it still good? Would you buy it?
Why it matters: Clearance isn't broken. It's just the manager making room.
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Activity 3
The Two-Difference Test
Page 5
Comparing Similar Items
⏱️10 min
🏠Two similar items at home
📖Pages 19–21
From the Book
Clarence compared the clearance RoBimmie to the brand-new model. Only two differences: a slightly bigger screen, and an antenna. He went with the clearance.
At home
1Pick any two similar items in your house — two cereals, two soaps, two pairs of socks, two anything.
2List every difference between them.
3Decide: if you had to buy ONE today, which would you pick? Why?
💬 Talk about it
- How many of the differences actually matter to you?
- If the cheaper one had the important features, would you still pay more for the others?
Why it matters: Newer isn't always better. Clarence figured that out at Sea-Mart.
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Activity 4
Coupon Hunt
Page 6
Coupons & Discounts
⏱️15 min (1 grocery run)
📱Store flyer OR store app
📖Pages 7–8, 22
From the Book
Coupons can show up in ads, in the mail, in email, even as a text code. Clarence had one stuffed in his pocket from the morning's ad and remembered it at checkout — 10% off clearance toys. Saved even more.
At home (before your next grocery run)
1Open a store flyer or the store's app.
2Together, find 3 coupons.
3For each one, ask: Are we actually going to buy this thing?
4Use the ones that match. Skip the ones that don't.
💬 Talk about it
- Why do stores send coupons in the first place?
- If a coupon is for something you weren't going to buy, is it really a deal?
Why it matters: A coupon for something you don't need is just a piece of paper. Mom says this on page 25 in her own way: just because it was a good deal doesn't mean you have to buy it.
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Activity 5
Guess the Price (the Wyze Family Game)
Page 7
The Family Game
⏱️5 min at dinner
🍔Something someone bought today
📖Page 28
From the Book
After dinner, whenever anyone in Clarence's family scored a great deal that day, the family played Guess the Price. Everyone bid on the sale price. Closest guess won. Clarence figured out the trick: bid LOWER than your parents.
At home
1Pick one item someone in your family bought today.
2Hide the price. Everyone writes their guess on a slip of paper.
3Reveal the price. Whoever's closest wins.
4Bonus: the loser does the dishes (or carries the bags in, like Mom and Clarence at the grocery store on page 27).
💬 Talk about it
- Were you surprised by the price? More or less than you thought?
- Who in your family is best at guessing? Why?
Why it matters: Knowing what things cost is how you spot a deal in the first place.
📝 A Note for Parents
You don't have to be a finance person to do any of this. Clarence's mom wasn't a finance person — she was a parent at a kitchen table with a stack of ads. The point isn't to drill kids on definitions. The point is to make money a normal thing to talk about. Once it's normal, the lessons stick.
The book is the assist. The kitchen table is the classroom.