Childhood should be a time for fun and play. But childhood is also a great time to teach young children valuable skills such as being helpful, being polite and ways to make money.

For young children aged 5 and below, you as the adult, will have to do the majority of the work but they can still play a valuable role in helping to make money.

Children Learn By Modelling

Young children learn a lot by modeling adults around them. They also tend to enjoy being included in things that you do and many will happily provide you with a helping hand if you are willing to patiently teach and provide ample encouragement.

I remember when my 1 year old started trying to help me wipe messes off the floor. She saw me regularly get down on my knees to wipe spills and she voluntarily grabbed a piece of cloth and tried to copy me. That’s when I learned that she was ready to start being helpful.

By 1.5 years old, she was starting to help me pull laundry out of the dryer, hand me clothes to fold and carry the laundry basket to put it back in place.

She thought that what she was doing was fun and it was play for her. But for me, what she was doing was truly helpful too.

Think of Amazon’s Jeff Bezos who spent summers helping out at his grandparents farm from aged 4 and started to learn about the values of resourcefulness, tenacity and hard work.

Make Everything Fun

The important thing to remember when it comes to young children is to make everything fun. You don’t want to force them to do anything as that will create a negative association with work. Instead, make it fun and teach them about the value of being useful.

Here are 7 ways for young kids to make money (with an adult’s help).

  1. Sell Toys/Garage Sale

Many children (and parents) suffer from the syndrome of ‘toy-overload’ disease. This is when toys appear in almost every room and your house looks like a disorganized toy shop.

Imagine how much more you will enjoy your home if the toy mess was kept to a minimum. There will be less screaming at your child, which your child will appreciate.

Encourage your child to choose which toys to get rid of and organize a garage sale. You could tell your child that half of the proceeds from the toy sale will go towards something that he or she really wants and the rest can be saved or invested.

On top of this, you could enlist your child to help out with selling your own stuff during the garage sale and he or she gets paid a commission for every sale that he or she helps complete. This will not only teach your child about how money works but he or she may start to pick up some selling skills.

  1. Appear in YouTube Videos

Some of the most popular videos on YouTube feature cute kittens, dogs and kids.

Your child does not have to be the star of the YouTube video but he or she could make a cameo appearance for a short segment of a YouTube video.

This strategy will only work if you yourself have some experience with YouTube videos. To be inspired, look at Ryan Toys Review’s YouTube channel. The child started on YouTube at 3 years old and now at 6 years old, his channel is making about $11 million a year. It’s never too young to start!

  1. Voice a Podcast, Webinar or Spotify

If you are not a fan of putting your child on YouTube, you may prefer to use a voice-only medium instead such as a podcast, webinar or song (for Spotify) instead.

Eva Karpman, who is 7 years old, co-hosts an inspiring family podcast with her mom, Olga.

You could be the main person speaking and your child can just chip in with a few lines if he or she is not yet ready to take the main stage.

  1. Child Casting/Modeling

If you have a child who loves the limelight and you are not opposed to your child having a glamorous childhood, you could sign up your child as a model. There are always agents, companies and brands on the lookout for cute and photogenic kids.

You will play an important role in ferrying your child from photoshoot to photoshoot but the money your child makes can be saved in a trust fund for his or her education. More importantly, a lot of children enjoy the whole experience.

  1. Sell Homegrown Fruits or Homemade Lemonade/Baking

The success of this strategy depends a lot on whether the local laws require permits for the activity.

For example, many states such as California require permits for a lemonade stand and homemade baking but no permit is required for sales of small amounts of homegrown produce.

The cost of a permit may erode the possibility of profits so it’s important to consider these factors before starting something.

We have a garden with lots of fruit trees at the back and since Baby LeBrick could walk, we have been teaching her to look for and pick up fruits from our garden to sell. We would then sell it to the neighbors and keep the money to buy toys for her. A great way to teach her about the importance of hard work, initiative and sales.

  1. Arts & Crafts

Your 5 year old may not be able to create a Leonardo Da Vinci masterpiece but he or she is still capable of being creative and creating something truly unique. With your assistance, your child could create something useful like baby shower invite cards with personalized drawings, hand prints or footprints.

The important thing is to create something that others find valuable and then, add your child’s finishing touches.

  1. Little Helper

Your child can be a little helper for you, family members, friends, neighbors or other people that you trust.

For example, your child could hand out flyers at an Open Home to visitors, water plants or feed pets while neighbors are away.

In all honesty, as a parent, you will probably be doing the bulk of the work and you may have to be physically present together with your child or at least close by while he or she works. But it’s worth investing some energy and time to let your child experience what an entrepreneurial life could look like. Who knows that they may fall in love with it!