Money Making Ideas for Kids

Each year as summer approaches, young entrepreneurs turn their minds to money making ideas for kids. With a bit of effort, creativity, and parental permission (and help when needed), kids can make more than a little pocket change.

Benefits of Kids Making Money

Long before kids are old enough to be gainfully employed, they can sharpen their business skills by babysitting, mowing lawns, and a host of other jobs. The most obvious advantage is that they can earn money for some of the extras that parents may not wish to fund-- expensive shoes, toys, CD's, books, and other luxury items. There are other benefits, though, and they include:

A job or business may help build responsibility.
A child operating a business must learn to manage his time.
Children quickly learn math skills through tracking expenses, profits, and losses.
When forced to spend money they've worked for, kids have to prioritize wants versus needs
When faced with the decision of a short-term small purchase versus saving for a larger item, kids build budget skills.
A child who is running her own business and buying some of her own things enjoys a sense of accomplishment.
Money making ideas for kids also provide a productive use of time, much better than spending all the summer hours in front of the television or video game.

Our Favorite Money Making Ideas for Kids

The possibilities for business ideas for kids are endless and truly depend on your child's personality, likes, dislikes, and skills, but here are our top three money making ideas for kids.

Pet Care Businesses

If your child is an animal lover and has experience caring for animals, there are many business ideas available. Here are just a few:

Dog walking
Grooming horses
Dog or cat grooming
Pet sitter

Although pet care businesses are fun summer jobs for kids, you might find that demand is even higher in the winter when some people would rather not face cold or rainy weather.

For these businesses, it's best to start locally, with people you already know. If your neighborhood allows it, put fliers out door-to-door. A small ad in your subdivision newsletter could also be an inexpensive, effective way of getting clients. After your child has a couple of satisfied customers, the majority of his business will likely come through word of mouth.

Tutoring or Coaching

If your child is skilled at a certain subject, sport, or hobby, consider helping her start a tutoring, coaching, or teaching business. She could offer tutoring on a one-on-one basis or teach classes in a larger format. For scholastic subjects such as reading or math, a more personalized approach works better, but a small group or class setting could work well for the following:

Crafts, such as beading, jewelry making, knitting, or sewing
Sports such as soccer or basketball
Foreign language

Blogging

If your child loves to write and has a passion for a particular topic, consider helping her start her own blog. A blog is a website that focuses on a fairly narrow topic and is updated on a regular basis. There are many blogs online, but few that offer a child's unique perspective. Some ideas for a topic include:

Living with a disease, impairment, or other special need. For example, a child with celiac disease could start a blog offering a child's view of the gluten-free lifestyle.
Pet care
Sports or a hobby
Kids' entrepreneurship
Kids' view of the homeschooling life
Book or movie reviews

Although it sounds complicated, a blog is actually pretty easy to set up. You can start out with a free service like Blogger. At the time of this writing, bloggers must be at least 13 to use Blogger. Through the Blogger interface, you can select a template, add blog entries, and even monetize your blog. While your child will not get rich (at least not right away), the possibility to make money from a blog is real.

If your child decides to go the blogging route, review basic Internet safety procedures. People tend to get personal through blogs and sometimes give away identifying information. For safety's sake, your child must avoid revealing her name, location, school, parents' names, and other information that a predator could use. You will also want to review your child's blog to make sure these rules are being followed.

Whatever business your child chooses, the skills learned will last a lifetime.