How to make money as a kid

How to make money as a kid with proven ideas from easy to more technical.

If you’re anything like my 11 year old daughter you’re probably asking for ways to make money so that you can buy legos, games, or apparel. While parents don’t mind providing for your necessities we want you to learn how to make money while you’re young. This is the time to explore, develop skills, and use your passions to make a little spending money.

This list is something my daughter and I have been working on for the last few years.  It started when she participated in a community activity to show and encourage kids to participate in entrepreneurship.  This was a fun activity we were all able to do as a family with the ability to generate a little money.

Parent cue —> How Money Smart Are You?

The list below was put together in order of ease-of-implementation.  Remember the goal is to make money in a safe and easy way. You should not expect to spend lots of money to buy your materials.  The idea is to use your current items or talents/know-how to make money. 

Parents this should require minimal supervision on your part. 

Sell your used stuff

The first is to gather your old, unused toys.  Your closets are probably full to toys you no longer play with.   Have your parent list them on trading up sites.  This is a quick and easy way to get your room organized and make some money.  

Ask your parents to create an eBay account and the same can be done here.  Do the same for the gaming systems you no longer and your gently used clothing.   Also, remember to take key quality pictures before uploading your products. 

House / Pet sit

Offer to pickup your neighbors mail, water their plant, or keep an eye on their house while they are out of town.  Do that enough times and you will be the go-to house sitter expert.  

Sell lemonade

You don’t even need a stand to sell the lemonade.  The neighborhood kids will stand on their yard and shout, “lemonade”!  Sell the 8oz cup for $1 and offer additional goodies to go with the lemonade.  

Parent Cue –> you might want to make sure the product tastes yummy.

Maintain Yards

Maintaining yards involve cleaning flower beds, removing trash, and of course mowing.  Don’t have a mower?  You can plan to borrow the home-owners equipment and do the gig.  

A personal favorite of mine is to keep an eye out for houses listed for sale.  You can then text the listing agent and offer to mow or keep the yard tidy.  This works best where the house is empty.  

Other ideas for kids to make money

The list below will require some technical know-how and  manual or power tools. 

Parent cue –> please plan to assist and supervise your kids while they do these activities.

Create GIFS  

There are free websites that will allow you to upload a picture and create a gif.  Plan to advertise on Facebook and ask for a picture to convert.  You then upload the picture to the website and download the gif.  The gif will then be sold.  

Make wooden signs

You can create custom wooden signs.  The easiest method to do this is to buy wooden pickets and paint them a solid color.  You can join the 3 pickets by using wooden glue, a small wooden piece for the back and some wood screws or nails.

Then select the stencils to create custom and one of a kind signs.   You can buy stencils at your local craft store.  Go to your favorite social media site and advertise the signs.  

Bake goodies

Have a knack for baking?  Consider selling your cakes for birthday parties.  Nothings says unique like a cake baked by a loved one.  Have your parents participate in this activity.

Offer customized goodies

An idea is to offer to customize your friends bags or student’s mask coverings.  A cricut is not a must-have to do this.  You can purchase iron-on material and use your creative skills to draw on the material and then use scissors to cut your masterpiece. 

After cutting you can have your parent help to iron the design on the item.  

That’s it! Pretty easy ways to make some money if you’re a kid. Notice some require little effort while others will need a little more time. Keep in mind that all these ideas will help develop some skills, i.e. communication, sales, profits/loss to name a few.

Parent cue –> You ready to show your kid how to make money? Or do you need help with this topic?

What are ideas would you include in this list?

33 Ideas for Parents To Make Money