With school, homework, and sports activities taking up a lot of time for tweens these days, it can be challenging to find ways to make money. But with a little imagination (and maybe some help from the adults in their lives), tweens can come up with creative solutions to earn extra spending cash! From odd jobs around the house or neighborhood pet-sitting gigs, there are plenty of options if you know where to look. If you are looking for some of the best ideas on how to make money as a tween here is great options to explore to start making money today!
Tween Jobs
When encouraging tweens to become entrepreneurs, it is essential to recognize their strengths. Teaching them to focus on what they are good at will help them feel successful. For example, a shy child who suffers from social anxiety might not become an overnight YouTube sensation but might be a fantastic artist. Build on their characteristics. The following skills will develop naturally as you guide your child through creating a business:
- Independence
- Budgeting Money
- Marketing
- Improved self-esteem
- Confidence
- Goal setting
- Commitment and follow-through.
Just remember tweens will require parental help, involvement, and supervision. Children are naturally curious and will begin to thrive as they explore new hobbies and interests. The following are some of the ways tweens can begin to build self-confidence and independence by selling items at craft fairs, farmers’ markets, or around their neighborhoods.
16 Ways To Make Money As A Tween Today!
Craft Fairs
Do you have a child that could spend all day sketching faces or loves to use a loom to make hats? Booking a table at a craft fair is an easy to promote your child’s talent. The fair’s sponsor is already promoting the marketing, so you need to create an eye-catching display. Here are some ideas that are great for tween boys and girls. There is something about crafts made by young people that make adults want to buy these items. Check out Crafts for Tween Girls for some inspiration!
Homemade Jewelry
Homemade jewelry is a great way for tweens to explore their interests and talents. There are so many different kinds of jewelry to be made at home. This category is perfect for tweens who like to work with their hands and be creative. There are many different kinds of mediums to create with. You can use clay, yarn, metal, beads, stone, and even old forks to create beautiful bracelets, rings, necklaces, and earrings. A simple google search can give your tween many ideas and a starting point.
DIY Beauty
Soaps, bath bombs, and lotions are easy to create and customize, perfect for any craft fair. We all need a little pampering and homemade soaps, bath bombs, and lotions are a great way to do some self-care. All you need is a few simple ingredients and in no time you have a big batch of DIY beauty products ready to go. Check out this recipe for Homemade Lotion Bars to get you started.
Knitted or loomed hats and scarves
Many tweens are discovering the joy of knitting! There are many ways to learn, whether from a friend or family member, a youtube tutorial, a class at your local craft store, or a how-to book, or you can visit the local nursing home to find many experts. For beginners not comfortable with knitting needles there is a loom you can purchase that helps you make knitted hats. The sky is the limit on the looks you can create.
PVC potato or marshmallow guns
These potato or marshmallow launchers are perfect for tween boys but can be made and used by anyone. My daughters loved playing with marshmallow guns at our local craft fair. These can be made with PVC fittings and pipes. These will need adult supervision as it can be difficult to cut PVC pipe, but once cut they are easy to glue together. Tweens could sell these as is or set up targets for people to pay to shoot at, and for younger kids, a prize could be offered as they hit various targets.
Artwork, drawings, or photography
Similar to knitting, art is easy to customize and create unique and beautiful items for purchase at craft fairs. There are many free youtube tutorials on artwork or photography. There are also classes available at community colleges or online which would be perfect for any beginner. Tweens love to take pictures, so this would be a great way for any tween looking to make money who loves using a camera. They get to express their creativity and make some money off of their talent.
These suggestions for craft fairs do cost money to create and having your tween do chores around the house for money is a great way to teach responsibility and hard work, and shows them the costs behind starting a business. When tweens earn their own money to purchase supplies they are taking steps to create their own business and learn those valuable traits that were talked about at the beginning of the post.
Tween Jobs At Farmers Markets
You may not know this, but Farmer’s Markets are not just for Farmers. Here are a few ideas on how your tween could utilize farmers’ markets to promote their sales. The following ideas are a great way to get tweens engaged over the summer, instead of being inside, they will be outside learning about what it takes to create a business, drumming up customers, and being social.
Lemonade stands
Lemonade stands are the classic way to make money as a tween. They are easy to set up and everyone gets thirsty! Brainstorm with your tween on ways to advertise, how much money to charge for the lemonade, and how they can create a unique product that others would want to try. One way would be to use flavored syrups to add some jazz to your lemonade.
Baked goods
If your tween loves to bake then they could bake some goodies to sell. Encouraging them to have a variety of products to sell will help bring more people to look at what they are selling. Baked goods not only will help your tween learn how to cook, and utilize math by measuring ingredients, but also understand time management skills by keeping track of cooking time.
Hand-painted flower pots
People are at a Farmer’s Market for plants, and hand-painted flowerpots are a cute way to display those plants. Set up a display to showcase the flowerpots. These are great for budding artists and are easy to create and set up.
Vegetable starts
Begin the growing process of the most popular vegetables and sell them. Tweens can also sell flowers from your garden. Both are great and easy ways for tweens to develop their green thumb. Don’t know what plants are popular or that grow in your area? Take a trip to your local greenhouse for some market research. Seeds are fairly inexpensive and the growing process will teach your tween a little science about the process of growing a seed. It’s not too early to teach your child how to be a master gardener.
Cricket and mealworm breeding
Breed crickets and mealworms as a feeder for large fish and reptiles. This project is perfect for any tween that loves insects and worms. Crickets and mealworms can be caught in the wild or can be purchased online. Selling these to others is a great summer business and can be started and maintained easily.
Looking for tween jobs closer to home? Check out our suggestions for jobs that can be done around your neighborhood.
How To Make Money As A Tween At Home?
As a parent, we know that sometimes our tweens are too young to be hired by a company or small business. That is where we come in and help them earn money by doing things around the house. Make sure you treat these ideas as a real job so they are still learning accountability and life skills.
Chores
Washing windows, dusting, taking garbage cans to the street, and helping with chores around the house are great jobs for tweens to do for hire. Raking leaves or shoveling snow are also great ways for tweens to earn a little extra money. For some reason, tweens like doing these things for other people, just not in their own homes. These jobs teach responsibility and honesty and the value of hard work.
Bike Washing and Maintenance
Great for summer and going back to school, running a bike washing and maintenance service is something any tween can do, and there will be plenty of customers! Cars might be difficult for younger tweens, but washing bikes and filling tires might be a feat they can tackle. They can create flyers or business cards to promote their entrepreneurship.
Yard Sales
Organize and run a yard sale, double up by selling lemonade and cookies to the browsers. This can be done when craft fairs and farmer’s markets are done and they have leftover inventory. You can teach your tween how to advertise in the newspaper or online to promote their yard sales and bring in more customers than just the people in your neighborhood.
Miscellaneous Ideas
Brainstorm with your tween others ideas that they can do. Another idea is if you have a projector to play an outdoor movie for the neighborhood and sell popcorn and soda. If you have a child with more electronics and games then they know what to do with renting out video games and gaming devices to other kids.
There are many ways tweens can make a little extra cash and have a job. They are important to teach the skills needed for them to grow up industrious and self-sufficient.
How Do I get a Job As A tween?
My tweens love making money, but it can be frustrating to find a paying job. One way would be to sit down with a parent and look over the above post and find a job that looks appealing to you. Make a plan on how to start the job. Your list could include finding a class or tutorial for a crafting hobby, purchasing supplies, setting aside time to make crafts, looking up craft fairs and farmers markets in your area, to advertising for your job. Having a plan will help make finding a job as a tween easier.
A tween can also talk to family and friends to see if there are any jobs available outside of their immediate family members. Adults use their available resources to look for jobs, and tweens can do the same to find opportunities that are available.
Great After School Jobs For Tweens
A majority of the jobs listed above focus on summer jobs, but there are jobs available for tweens after school. Tweens can offer to walk dogs or be a companion for an elderly neighbor. The important thing is to budget their time wisely so that jobs do not interfere with after-school activities or homework.
Should You Get A Job As A Tween?
The short answer is yes! Jobs are a great way for tweens to start learning responsibility and independence. A child’s brain undergoes change starting in adolescence with parts of the brain being pruned away and other parts and connections strengthened based on the “use it or lose it” approach. How tweens and adolescents use their brains is important for healthy development. The different components of a job can help a tween start to develop healthy habits that can be hard-wired into their brain. Helping your tween get a job is one part of raising happy, successful kids.
Making money as a tween isn’t that hard. With the right resources and research, it is totally doable! After all, you are never too young to start learning valuable skills related to money and entrepreneurship. Whether getting creative with lemonade stands or taking on a job such as babysitting or dog walking, there is always something out there that could benefit you financially and help you gain invaluable lessons.