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Three Fun Summer Activities that Teach Kids about Entrepreneurship

June 15, 2021

According to next week’s forecast, it’s safe to say that warmer temperatures are here, and summer is on its way. Hallelujah! We made it.

For those of you with kids at home, you’re likely looking for ways to keep them busy for the next three sunny months. Well, if you’re looking for some creative ways to engage kids that will also teach them about entrepreneurship and life skills, we’re here to help.

We probably didn’t think of it this way at the time, but many of our first summer jobs or volunteer opportunities served as a great way to learn about potential career paths, how to run a business, or how to turn our favorite hobbies into lucrative side hustles. So this summer we’re sharing three easy-to-execute, fun, and kid-friendly activities that might just teach them a little something about entrepreneurship along the way. Remember, #dreambigstartsmall!

1. 1. Open a lemonade stand

At this point, opening a lemonade stand is almost a rite of passage for neighborhood kids. And while most kids do it for fun, it’s also a great way to start learning basic business skills. Managing a lemonade stand encourages kids to think about:

• Cash management
• Product costs
• Revenue
• Time management
• Customer service
• …And more!

Of course, your kid may not have business skills on their mind – but you can help them learn the basics by asking them to guess how much lemonade they think they can sell, how much money they’ll need for lemonade ingredients, and then help them calculate how much they’ll need to charge for each cup in order to turn a profit.

While this may take a bit of help from you to get them started, a lemonade stand is a tried-and-true way to learn the fundamentals of business ownership.

For younger kids, calculating profits might be a bit much – so instead, help them practice their math skills by sorting and counting cash, and then potentially making a donation to a cause they care about, like a local animal shelter or food pantry.

Who knows… maybe your kiddos will own their very own small business someday and you’ll be able to say it all started at the lemonade stand!

2. Explore volunteer opportunities

While volunteering and entrepreneurship may seem like opposites, we can assure you that volunteer opportunities are a great way to build skills that are useful in the workplace–and, as an added bonus, potentially introduce your child to something they really love. Here are three great ways that kids can volunteer this summer:

• Pet sitting or dog walking: If your kids love animals, pet sitting (or dog walking) for friends and neighbors is a great way for them to learn what it takes to own and care for a pet. If you don’t know anyone nearby with a pet that needs some extra love, check with your local animal shelter! Many shelters look for volunteers to help walk or interact with animals or do other chores like feeding, cleaning, and bathing. You never know, it might spark an interest in a future career in veterinary medicine!
• Your community garden: For all the parents out there who have a hard time getting their kids to come back inside after playing outdoors all day, this could be the opportunity for you. We can think of so many benefits of volunteering at a community garden, like learning about sustainability, helping people gain access to fresh and healthy food, and teaching kids about how plants grow. And it will also keep them busy in the sunshine! It’s an all-around win! If you don’t have a community garden nearby – consider a window garden in or around your home and have your child surprise friends and neighbors with the fruits (or vegetables! or herbs!) of their labor.
• A local theater company: As theater groups start to reopen their doors after more than a year-long hiatus, it’s inevitable that many of them will desperately need volunteers. Volunteering at a theater gives kids an inside look into running a multi-faceted business that includes sales, creativity, production management, food service, and more.

Not only do volunteer opportunities teach basic life skills that are useful in the workplace, volunteering also helps prepare kids for high school and beyond. Volunteering teaches interpersonal skills, professional communication, and helps kids figure out which extracurriculars they might be interested in. If none of the above opportunities appeal to your kids, have them do some online research to uncover other local organizations looking for volunteers in your area – chances are the list is pretty extensive!

3. Suggest they start their own small business

For kids who have aged out of the lemonade stand phase, lawn mowing, raking, yard work – or even babysitting – are other great ways to explore entrepreneurship.  If your child is capable of one or more of these summer jobs, encourage them to treat it as a real business this summer by doing these four things:

• Create a name for their business: Ownership of the name of the company will give them pride in what they’re doing and encourage them to share it with others.
• Calculate costs and set pricing: One of the biggest challenges (and skills!) involved in business ownership is understanding costs and setting prices. Help your child figure out what to charge for their services by looking around at what other similar businesses charge, helping them figure out what it will cost them to run their business (the cost of supplies), and how much money is left over in profit. Then, once you’ve settled on what feels like a fair price, talk to them about how to get the word out and effectively sell their services.
• Create basic marketing materials: Even if it’s just a flyer with pieces of paper that have your contact information on it, this flyer will teach them about marketing their business to a local audience. Plus, it will give you some peace of mind that you’re part of the recruiting process for new customers your child is taking on.
• Encourage them to talk to neighbors about their lawncare: To get things off the ground, you could suggest they go door-to-door (either accompanied by you or at houses you’re comfortable sending them to) to ask about lawncare needs. Perhaps even consider offering free or reduced price services to start, in order to get the word out and do some good for others in the community. This will teach them more about marketing, how to talk to potential customers, and what it takes to sell their skills and their business.

No matter what entrepreneurial venture your kid gets up to this summer, it will undoubtedly teach them the necessary skills to dive into business in whatever way they want to later in life.

About

The MyAlfondGrant website (myalfondgrant.org) is sponsored by the Alfond Scholarship Foundation (ASF), a Maine non-profit organization. This site is intended as a service to families of children who have been awarded the $500 Alfond Grant for college, so that they can access information on college and career planning, and, in connection with the MyAlfondGrant Info from FAME website (www.myalfondgrantinfofromfame.com), sponsored by the Finance Authority of Maine (FAME), they can track the value of their child’s Alfond Grant. The information made available on myalfondgrant.org is not intended to replace a family’s own research or other sources of information on such topics.