If you think that children cannot earn money, you might be surprised to know that this is simply not true. There are several ways in which children can make money and learn valuable skills like how to handle money, how to be diligent, how to take responsibility for their actions, time management skills, and experience overall personal growth.
The tasks that they have to do to earn money will be mentally or physically stimulating, which will make them smarter. This way, when they grow older, they become comfortable with earning money to fulfill their needs. The money that children earn can be saved up in an account by the parents so that this can be given on a special occasion like before going to college.
As parents, you need to know how to make money as a kid so that it comes in handy. Here is a list of safe and guaranteed ways to do that.
How to Make Money as a Kid – 25 Ways to Do That
1. Doing Household Chores
This is one of the easiest ways children above the age of 6 can try making money, as all they have to do is help out with household chores. They can do simple ones like laundry, cleaning the house, pulling out weeds from the garden, vacuuming, washing the dishes, etc.
Learning these tasks and doing them regularly is a useful habit that every child should be taught so that they can learn how to handle responsibility. They can be given small amounts of money for every successful task completed.
2. Babysitting
If you think your child is old enough, responsible, and can take care of another younger child, this job can easily help them earn money. Although it doesn’t require them to know specific skills, they need to have a well-rounded personality so that they can take care of someone younger.
They need to have experience in dealing with younger children and should know what is acceptable and what is not. If they are good at all this, then they will be in demand whenever parents are busy in the neighborhood!
3. Walking Dogs or Feeding Pets
This is a much more interesting job that children of all ages may be interested in as it involves animals. Sometimes, people may be too busy to take care of their pets due to their work or if they go on vacation, etc. This is an ideal time for your child to offer to take care of pets and earn some easy money.
But for this, they may need to have prior experience with pets so that they can learn how to walk and feed them. Their job description will be just to have fun and be responsible!
4. Having a Lemonade Stall
Regardless of whether it is a scorching hot day during peak summer or a fresh day during spring, lemonades are always popular. Therefore, you only need to teach your child/ children how to make lemonade and provide them with the ingredients required.
Then, they can easily set up a lemonade stall in a place where they can get customers, like in front of parks, in a junction, etc. They can let everyone in the neighborhood know about this by posting personalized flyers for each house. This way, they can get more customers!
5. Washing Vehicles
Children can go door to door asking if anyone needs their cars or campers cleaned. This way, they won’t be endangered as they will not ask strangers, nor will they find customers on the roads. They can offer to clean the windows, doors, and exterior of the vehicle and vacuum the interior, etc. This is a good way to understand how to make money as a kid.
They can specifically find houses where the vehicles are often used. But for this to be successful, they will need cleaning supplies, and they have to know how much to charge for different types of vehicles.
6. Help Around the Neighborhood
This is a mix of all the jobs mentioned before in addition to some other unique jobs around the neighborhood, like helping out a neighbor clean their garage, cleaning front/ back yards, washing the vehicles, helping out with gardening, taking care of someone’s pet, helping someone organize their things, etc. If the parents stay in a neighborhood where they know their neighbors well, this job would surely be there and help kids earn some money.
7. Garage Sale
After sorting and organizing their belongings, children can decide which products they want and which they don’t want. Then, they can start pricing them reasonably with the help of an adult if they are very young. They can have a garage sale outside their house if they only have a few items.
If they have a lot of items, then they can participate in community garage sales and sell there to make profits. This process will teach them financial and organizing skills, which are much needed!
8. Baking Sale
If your child is good at baking or if they promise to help you out so that you can bake goods for them, you can consider letting them have a baking sale. This can be done as frequently as you want, and they can sell it almost anywhere.
You can spend quality time with them as you bake, so there are several benefits to this job. But the requirement here is that you need to be good at baking and should have the time to bake in moderately large quantities.
9. Participate in Competitions
From a young age, some children have specific interests, and you may have nurtured this by sending them to classes, helping them get resources, etc. Your children can make use of these skills by showcasing them in competitions.
If they can participate in tournaments or bigger contests, there will be monetary prizes. This is a way in which you can help them hone their skills while they make money.
10. Help Out with the Family Business
If you own a business, then your children can easily learn how to make money by helping you out. If your business is a place where they can learn and help you out in any way, for example, learning how to organize, provide support to customers, work part-time, etc., then this can give them a safe and convenient learning environment.
They can learn from you and your employees firsthand and develop their skills while earning some money for it. This is also one of the easier ways to learn how to make money as a kid.
11. Participate in Research Studies/Surveys
Some websites and apps are looking for participants to answer their research surveys. These might be on different topics like customer reviews, preferences, needs, etc. Individuals belonging to specific demographics, including children, are required to answer the surveys.
It is possible to make a good amount of money every month by answering a couple of surveys. But the only downside of this might be too much screen time because surveys that pay well will take a lot of time to complete. So, monitoring might be required.
12. Start Blogging
If your child is good at writing or speaking, then they can share their ideas and interests in the form of writing blogs or videos. If the parents are involved, then they can create videos much more easily. Uploading videos on YouTube on trending topics or something that your child is passionate about can quickly attract a following.
Once the videos get monetized, there will be a consistent source of income, although the amount received will change according to the number of views each video has. So start creating!
13. Create Content for Social Media
Social media has taken the world by storm in the past few years, and it is becoming popular as a source of income for young people. This can include children as well, although this may be better suited for upper middle and high school children. If they know a bit about graphic design, photography, video editing, etc., they can create posts, reels, and videos for social media platforms.
They can work as social media managers for different profiles that they like and can enjoy their time in this job. Or they can create content for themselves and make a name for themselves in this digital space!
14. Tutoring
This is best suited for high school kids because they have the knowledge, both academic and social, to tutor other younger children. If there is a subject that they think they are strong at, then they can take classes for others and make some money while brushing up their knowledge.
To become a tutor, they need to have a clear understanding of the resources, and therefore, this will enhance their academic performance while improving others’ grades! This is one of the best ways how to make money as a kid.
15. Do Freelance Work
Maybe your kid is interested in arts, crafts, sports, baking, cooking, language learning, etc. You can use their skill in specific domains and have them offer their skills and talent on freelancing platforms.
Depending on their skills and quality of work, they can attract customers quickly and have a good customer base if they are consistent. This is also a flexible option because they can do freelance work when they don’t have a lot of academic or extracurricular workload.
16. Selling Handmade Products
This is similar to freelancing, except here, the kids themselves should do marketing and reach the customers. They can put up stalls where they sell products like jewelry (earrings, necklaces, bracelets, etc.), photo cards of celebrities, bookmarks, headbands, scrunchies (made of satin, cotton, netted cloth, etc.), homemade chocolates, etc.
They have to find customers who might be interested in these products and set up stalls in different places regularly so that they can make some money.
17. Sell Photos
If you think that your kid takes good photos, then selling these photos so that they can be downloaded digitally or printed in the form of posters is a good way to earn money. All it takes is a camera, and these days, polaroid photos are in demand so selling Polaroid photos will be a good source of income.
Another option they can use with a Polaroid camera is to take pictures of people in different landmarks, restaurants, or public areas and sell them at a good price. Although this is a good option, the parent has to invest in a good camera so that this job can be done successfully.
18. Play Games to Win Money
Several apps and websites offer beta versions of their games or want to attract new users to their games. Kids can try playing the games given on these websites, give feedback and earn money. They don’t even have to put in some extra effort if they love playing games.
This is also a versatile way to improve their fine motor skills, as these games require hand-eye coordination, quick reaction times, strategic thinking, etc. But again, the issue of too much screen time comes into the picture, and parents should regulate this aspect.
19. Stream Games on Different Platforms
YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, etc., are social media platforms that have live streaming options where children can record the games they are good at playing and stream them. There are streaming platforms that are solely made for the purpose that can be used.
Here, once they attract an audience, they can do affiliate marketing, sponsorships, etc. However these should be done under the supervision of the parent because young children might not know how to deal with the negativity that is sometimes common on these streaming platforms.
20. Resell Things (Clothes, Furniture, Household Items)
You can check around the house, organize, and decide what things are still needed and what can be put up for resale. Your kid can carry out this entire reselling process. Things like clothes, furniture, household items, appliances, gadgets, toys, books, etc. can be sold.
But this also requires some help from the parents because if they are reselling things, then they have to meet strangers. Therefore, make sure to take your child’s help with organizing and helping them out with the selling process.
21. Create Illustrations or Graphic Design
If your children are interested in drawing and painting, doing it digitally or physically and then selling it is a good option. They will need to buy the materials and develop the skills, but if they are good at it, then they can do commissions also.
If they are older, then they can learn to do graphic design and make posters, magazine prints, posts for social media, logo designs, etc. This will require them to work on professional or semi-professional applications for which they will need access to good devices like laptops or tablets.
22. Sell Printed T-Shirts, Tote Bags, Posters, Etc
This can be another way to make money as a kid. They can use their illustration skills and graphic design abilities, or they can simply find the trending TV shows, memes, or songs, and they can create prints similar to that.
They can find designs that are cute, modern, traditional, etc., and print them on materials like t-shirts, tote bags, posters, etc. One beneficial factor is that they can just print quotes or sentences that are trending and do this. They don’t need to have any special skills!
23. Recycle Materials
Recycling bottles or plastic products for money is also a good way. You can collect plastic cans, tin bottles, plastic wrappers, plastic bags, newspapers, used books, etc., and give them to places where they pay you for recycling.
You can also create artwork or crafts like making photo frames, pencil stands, flower vases, wall decor, etc., using these materials and selling them as well. This is an environment-friendly job that also earns you money regardless of age.
24. Teaching a Skill
If you think your child has good skills in any subject or extracurricular activity like sports, music, dancing, painting, etc., then they can use this to teach others. They can have individual classes or group classes depending on what they are comfortable with.
This will help them learn how to teach and will improve their skills as well. If your children have certifications, then you can shoot videos of them teaching it and upload them on YouTube or any other platform where your videos can be monetized.
25. Work Part-Time
This is the easiest way in which older children can earn money. They can work in different places and try out different roles like being a waitress/waiter, salesperson, cashier, barista, etc., depending on the requirements of the employer.
They can easily do this during their vacations, weekends, or a few hours on weekdays. This will teach them accountability, which will be essential for them in adulthood. They will also save a huge chunk of money, which can be used for their higher education if they go to work regularly.
Final Thoughts
Don’t wait for your kids to grow older to start teaching them how to earn money, as there are plenty of ways how to make money as a kid. Some popular, safe, and great ways are to babysit, tutor younger children, do chores, use social media to your advantage, have different kinds of sales, work part-time, etc. This way, they will learn financial skills early on, in addition to having a holistic personality and a fine skillset.
They can learn the values and skills necessary to have a good living and use their hard-earned money more responsibly. As a parent, you can save up the money they earn as a child and give it to them at a later point in time. You also need to support them in their endeavors so that they feel confident out there. If you used any of the ways we have mentioned, let us know how it went!
Frequently Asked Questions
How to Make Money as a Kid Even Though They Are Younger?
Simple choices like babysitting, helping out with chores, washing vehicles, taking care of pets, etc., can be made by children ages 6 to 10. This is because these don’t require much supervision, technical skills, etc. These tasks, when done in a group, improve their social skills as well. Although they might find it difficult in the beginning, they can succeed if they persevere.
What Are Some Ways in Which High School Students Can Earn Money?
Since high school students may have developed skills in specific domains, the best option for them is to share these skills for an income, for example, through tutoring, teaching a skill, sharing their artwork or baked goods, etc. They can also work part-time as they are old enough to understand and fulfill the requirements of the employer. They can also try starting their own small business, like making customized t-shirts, selling handmade accessories, etc.
