Teaching Children To Earn Their Own Money

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Last year my son was always asking me for things. “Mom, can I have this?”, “Mom,will your buy me that?” (sound familiar?). You would think this kid was 5 years old but he was actually 10 years old. I suppose the “I want” stage lasts until adulthood so I guess I shouldn’t be surprise. I was getting sick of hearing it though.

I told my son that for a school project he was going to start his own business that would earn him money. He was required to plan the business, work the business, and write a paper on his experience.

It took a while for him to think up a buisness idea but eventually we came up with selling painted pots with flowers. The plan was for him to paint terra cotta pots, put soil and already grown flowers in them, and sell them door-to-door. It was around Valentines Day so was a good time of year. I don’t know that there is any really bad time a year for kids to try and sell stuff. People seem to want to buy from kids even if it’s junk. There is almost no money making idea for kids that is a bad idea.

My son’s products were not junk though. He made some very nice pots with cute designs. He only made about 5 or 6 pots but he sold all of them for $5 and $7 each. The report he wrote was titled “How I turned $5 into $25″.

I think he felt proud about his accomplishment and bought a toy he had his eye on within the same week he sold his pots. Though this experience never stopped the  ‘mom,can I have’s’, it did show him that he could earn his own money if he just sets his mind to it. This could be a good lesson for us adults as well.

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March 23, 2007 | Filed Under Just Whatever, Teaching Kids About Money | 5 Comments