The other day 3 kids around the ages of 3 to 6 knocked my door, they were carrying a basket full of petals and tulips and asked me if I wanted to buy flowers. I am all for encouraging kids to earn their own money, plus I thought they were really cute. I must have been their first client because they were very excited about that one dollar bill. It was after I put the badly cut red tulip in water that I remember I used to have tulips in my front yard! I looked thru my window but all my yellow tulips were gone... I did laugh and thought about how I might had encouraged some more flower-cutting around our neighborhood.
....And that got me thinking:
What can little kids do to earn some money this summer?
One of the most fun memories I had of my Summers are when my sister,cousins and I would work to saved money for the local carnival. I actually don't remember much about the carnival days as much as I remember putting together a dance choreography to be performed latter that day to whom ever would be willing to pay for the show. If it wasn't for one my cousin's admirers that would of been a waste of time but luckily for us, he was always happy to pay for the show up to 3 times. I have talked about
grandpa before, he used to have a
fruteria and during summers he would bring boxes full of fruits home (we all hanged out at grandma's house all summer) and it was up to us, the grand kids to go sell it house by house around the block. Surprisingly only the girls were up for the challenge.. and it was actually very simple. We put the price (always considering the "just for you" sale), strategically divided in groups, looked for our target market or what we considered "the richer houses", make some escape routes in case we encounter any unfriendly dogs, smile and keep the money! We were so good there still a legend about how one of us sold once a broken cantaloupe that had fallen by accident (we don't remember which one of us it was... of course!) And if I remember correctly because of that money we were able to go to the annual carnival TWICE every summer.
I looked back and I don't think I can put a price to what I learned from that experience. I come from a family were I was expected to help at home and it
wasn't a matter of mood/choice, I think we all did right? it isn't until
our generation that for one reason chores at home aren't an obligation
and we as parents have taken the responsibility to 1.make our kids happy, 2.provide/give them MORE of whatever they ask, and 3.keep them from getting bored ...I don't think I ever went to my mom complaining about how bored I was...that would had been like saying "let me wash more dishes or clean my room."
I was just talking to my husband about how I want to make a chore chart for Happiness and then he made me listen to
this Amazingly GOOD talk from 2004 about the 3 most important things parents can teach to kids. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
So thinking and brainstorming I came up with some simple ways my neighbor's kids or your kids can make some money this Summer and learn some valuable lesson on the side... and no more cutting flowers please!
For The Classic:
- Lemonade/ Bake Stand
- Toys/Books kids garage sale
- You can also be in charge of picking up people's mail while the are on vacation.
For the Hands on:
- Buy some cheap birdhouses and paint them or make some on your own with milk cartons and sell them.
- At home service car wash
- Window cleaner service
For The Animal Lover
- Make Bird Feeders out of toilet paper rolls and sell them.
- Cat/Dog sitter (a lot of people go on vacations and need someone to watch their pets)
- Walk dogs
For the Green Thumb:
- Sell vegetable seeds
- Plant sitter (people who go on vacation may need someone to take good care of their plants/garden)
Have a good Day!
(sorry it felt like monday!)
