Working over the summer is a great way for kids to make extra money! These ideas are perfect for some younger entrepreneurs who can start right from home.
Gardening. This spring, talk with your kids about setting up a garden near the house. If they are responsible for maintaining their plants and taking care of them, they can sell those fruits and vegetables for a profit! If they grow a fruit like berries, they could turn the fruit into jams or marmalades. If they grow tomatoes, they can make homemade tomato sauce. Check local farmers’ markets to see if your kids can set up their own table to sell their homemade goods, whether it be vegetables, herbs, or jams and sauces they made themselves.
Offer tutoring services. This is a great option for middle-to-high-school students who excel in a particular subject in school. If they know any grade-school level kids who struggle with that subject, have them speak with that child’s parents to see if tutoring is a good option. Your high schooler can set a rate and even create business cards to hand out when necessary.
Sell prints. Does your child have a talent for art or graphic design? Encourage him or her to set up shop on a site like etsy.com. With an initial investment in materials like paint or printing costs, the kids could be selling unique pieces of art online in no time! Have them do some research around the internet to find out an average selling price for their type of art, and then they can set their own prices. As long as they can ship it, they can sell it!
Use a site like eBay. If your kids are involved in a deep clean and come across some toys or gently-used clothes in a sellable condition, encourage them to sell it online! Sites like eBay are the perfect way to get kids learning about some basic economics and business skills, like setting a price, writing thorough descriptions, and so on.
Offer yard work services. If your child enjoys the idea of doing some lawn services—lawn mowing, weeding a garden, watching houseplants while someone’s out of town—encourage him or her to do it! When the weather warms up, have him or her stick a flier in every mailbox on the block. The flier should list your name, your email address, the lawn services your child is willing to offer, and rate ($10 to mow a lawn, $20 to watch plants for a week, etc).
Recycling. If your neighborhood doesn’t already have a way to collect recycled goods, your child could use the flier method above to inform neighbors that he or she will collect bags of recycling to take to the nearest recycling station every week. He or she can go around and collect bags people leave out before garbage night, or have them dropped off in his or her own driveway. They could charge $1 for each bag. Alternatively, check the backs of your bottles and cans to see if your state will give you cash back for recycling large amounts of them!
What about you? Have your children engaged in any entrepreneurial adventures? What were their ideas, and how did they work out?
Dress Up a Plain Suit
