We've mentioned before that one good way to get kids interested in investing is to have them track some stocks they're interested in, observe how the stocks react to good news and bad, and see how they do at picking stocks. This is actually a great activity for anyone new to investing. Investing your real hard-earned dollars in your first stock won't be as traumatic if you've already been following stocks for a while.

One thing we haven't done, though, is explain exactly how you and your kids might go about tracking stocks. Sure, you can obviously jot down in a notebook the stock names and then track their prices over time. But to be a fully Foolish investor, there's a little more. Let's make it a more realistic exercise and incorporate broker commission costs (or Drip costs). And let's hold ourselves accountable, seeing how our stock performance compares to a benchmark like the S&P 500 index.

A few caveats:

This mock portfolio probably won't be maintained for years, so don't judge it too harshly. And if it does well, don't be overconfident. The point is to get used to following stocks and doing the calculations involved in evaluating performance. If your overall performance isn't too hot over a few months or even a year or two, don't be alarmed. Even the best investors have short-term slumps or are invested during extended market downturns.

Also, some of the math might not be familiar to your child yet. If this is the case, you can either do the calculations yourself or show your child how to do it. There's nothing more advanced than division and multiplication here. Oh -- and percentages.

Alright. We're ready to track our mock portfolio. You'll need either a spreadsheet (or table) on your computer or a big sheet of paper with many columns. Two facing pages in a notebook might do as well. Create 18 columns and label them A through R with the following titles added to each letter:

A -- Stock
B -- Ticker
C -- Date bought
D -- # of shares bought
E -- Initial price
F -- Commission or DRIP fee
G -- Total $ invested
H -- S&P 500 on buy date
I -- Date sold
J -- # of shares sold
K -- Sale price
L -- Commission or DRIP fee
M -- Total $ from sale
N -- S&P 500 on sale date
O -- Gain or loss in $
P -- Gain or loss in %
Q -- % change in S&P 500 for period
R -- Did you beat the market?

You can find S&P 500 levels for any date via the Motley Fool site. To find today's S&P 500 levels, type SPX in the Ticker Symbol form at the top left of any Motley Fool page, check-off the quote selection, and go get it!

Once you're done with that, you're ready to start filling in information. Below is an explanation of everything you'll have to do. Whenever you "buy" a stock, fill in columns A through H. Whenever you "sell" a stock, fill in I through R.

A: Enter the stock name.
B: Enter the ticker symbol.
C: Enter the date you bought the stock.
D: Enter the number of shares you bought.
E: Enter the price of the shares when you bought them.
F: Enter the commission you paid for the purchase.
G: First multiply the number in column D by the number in column E. Subtract F and enter the result.
H: Record the S&P 500 level on the day you bought the shares.
I: Enter the date you sold the shares.
J: Enter the number of shares you sold.
K: Enter the price of the shares when you sold them.
L: Enter the commission price.
M: Multiply J by K. Then subtract L. Enter the result.
N: Record the S&P 500 level when you sold.
O: Subtract G from M. (That's M minus G)
P: Divide M by G. Take the result and subtract 1. Then multiply by 100 and add the percentage sign (%).

Example: 220 / 180 = 1.22; 1.22 - 1.00 = 0.22; 0.22 x 100 = 22%.
Q: Same as above, but divide Q by H. Take the result and subtract 1. Then multiply by 100 and add %.
R: Well, did you? Is P or Q greater?

That's it! Enjoy tracking stocks in your kid's mock portfolio. Remember, learning is earning.

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