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Review by Erin Brereton, Common Sense Education | Updated November 2012

Budget Hero

Great jumping-off point for lessons on U.S. government and politics

Subjects & skills
Subjects
  • Social Studies
Skills
  • Critical Thinking
Grades This grade range is a recommendation by Common Sense Education and not the developer/publisher.
9–12
Common Sense says (See details)
Teachers say (1 Review)
Platforms:  Website

Take a look inside

5 images
Buildings expand or shrink when spending for various policy areas is either increased or decreased.
Kids can click on any of the tax cards to read the pros and cons of keeping or ditching the policy.
A separate site for teachers provides a few activity and lesson plan ideas.
Teachers can also use information about the research that the game is based on to teach students about data gathering, accuracy, and use.
Students choose badges for three issues they feel are important, which helps personalize the allocation decisions they make during the game.

Pros: Kids get a non-partisan view of how spending-related decisions involving issues that interest them will alter the budget.

Cons: Some information may be too complex for young children; the game is engaging, but users may not play it multiple times.

Bottom Line: Budget Hero is a fun educational tool that can help teens learn about public policy, resource spending, and balancing the federal budget.

How Can I Teach with This Tool?

The simulation game provides a personalized experience. Students expand or trim tax breaks and spending cuts that will affect issues they feel are important. They’ll experience the concerns, frustrations, and occasional triumphs involved in trying to balance the federal budget firsthand.

Teachers can use the simulation game as a jumping-off point to talk about U.S. politics and the cause-and-effect relationship between tax and funding decisions and the national debt level. Information about how the game uses the Congressional Budget Office budget model, and forecast data can also be used to discuss probability and other similar concepts. 

Additional information may be needed to explain how the major political parties are structured and who makes what decisions. But the game should help kids better understand how parties make decisions and support certain issues based on their beliefs and goals, and the effect those choices can have on the federal budget.

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Standards:

Editor's Note: The 2012 edition of the Budget Hero game has been retired. However, users are encouraged to visit the site to leave feedback for possible future versions of the game.

Budget Hero is a browser-based game that illustrates how U.S. federal budget money is spent. Kids select three causes that interest them from options like national security, health and wellness, and energy independence. Players then view the effect their spending increases and decreases will have on the U.S. budget deficit, surplus, and debt level over the next decade. Buildings grow and decrease in line with monetary decisions; gauges also show where the level of debt and other considerations stand.

Budget Hero also provides a considerable amount of information about spending and tax policies and programs. Users can click on each potential expense to read about the pros and cons involved in either boosting or reducing the program, and can also raise or lower taxes to try to balance the budget.

Before playing, students can watch a brief intro that explains how the federal budget and game generally work. However, the monetary and political concepts involved may be a little too complex for younger kids who haven’t learned much in school yet about the government. High schoolers, though, should be able to grasp the theories. The game can help them learn to balance their personal opinions and priorities with the factual information that’s offered to judge the risks and rewards involved in each decision. 

Budget Hero often involves difficult choices. Seeing the immediate effect certain cuts or increases will have on the budget’s bottom line can help reinforce some important spending concepts, including how to balance (and stick to) a household budget and how to identify and prioritize needs over emotional arguments.

Overall Rating
Engagement Is the product stimulating, entertaining, and engrossing? Will kids want to return?

Players get a personalized experience because the game lets them choose to expand or cut funding and taxes that relate to issues they care about. They’ll see how their decisions immediately affect the budget.

Pedagogy Is learning content seamlessly baked-in, and do kids build conceptual understanding? Is the product adaptable and empowering? Will skills transfer?

Teens visually see the impact reducing or expanding policies will have on the federal budget for a decade. They can read about each program’s background and learn about public policy, government, and decision-making.

Support Does the product take into account learners of varying abilities, skill levels, and learning styles? Does it address both struggling and advanced students?

Kids can also access a list of more than 30 sources for additional budget, policy, and government information. Registered users can also see how their potential budget compares to other users' plans.

Common Sense Reviewer
Erin Brereton
About our ratings and privacy evaluation.

Key Standards Supported

Reading History/Social Studies

  • RH.11-12.1

    Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, connecting insights gained from specific details to an understanding of the text as a whole.

Reading Informational Text

  • RI.9-10.1

    Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

  • RI.9-10.2

    Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.

  • RI.11-12.1

    Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.

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Teacher Reviews

Featured review by
Cathy C. , Technology coordinator
Technology coordinator
Cedar Hill Elementary School
Basking Ridge, United States
Excellent tool to connect to US government unit
Budget Hero is an excellent way to gain further understanding of how government works, and the considerations that need to be taken into account when making budget choices. I appreciate how the activity requires you to choose up to three stands (Democrat/Republican, Green, Energy Efficiency, Reduced government) at the start. The pros and cons included with each budget choice were a huge source of valuable information, but the students lost some interest while reading. Budget Hero is highly effective in ...
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