My husband and I are both serial entrepreneurs. There is rarely a day that goes by where we are not talking about new business ideas or evaluating existing businesses. As such, our kids are used to “business talk” at dinner, and now they routinely brainstorm a list of business ideas for kids! They are definitely kidpreneurs at heart!
Entrepreneurship Virtual Camp for Kids
In this entrepreneurship virtual camp, you will pick a business idea to pursue! In order to do this, you will also learn how to get into the mindset of an entrepreneur by completing an observation vs inference worksheet and learning how to create a mind map online. By the end of this lesson plan, you will have a business idea that excites you!
Over the next few days, you will take your new business concept and create a business plan, conduct market research, learn about marketing, design a logo and practice pitching your business idea. Below is a full list of our virtual camp activities to complete this week!
- Find a business idea
- How to price your product
- Write a business plan
- Marketing, branding & logo design
- How to pitch a business idea
Make sure that you join our Facebook Group and follow us on Pinterest, so you that you won’t miss additional entrepreneurship activities for kids too!
List of Business Ideas for Kids
Below is a huge list of business ideas for kids! Take a look to see if anything catches your eye, before going on to creating your mind map below. Do you have a great business idea for a kid that isn’t on our list? Please share it in the comment section below or post it in our Facebook Group, so that we can help inspire each other!
1. T-Shirt Designer
Make your own t-shirts to sell! You can either have your idea made into t-shirts here on Amazon, or you can buy solid colored t-shirts and make your own designs with a Cricut machine.
2. Book Author
If you have a passion for writing, you can self-publish your own book online. Here is a great book on how to self-publish on Amazon, which is free with Kindle Unlimited.
3. Illustrator
Do you love drawing? Then, you may want to consider becoming an illustrator for authors.
4. Face Painter
Parents are often looking for a face painter to come to their children’s birthday parties. You could use face paints to start this business.
5. Balloon Artist
Another fun gig for at birthday parties is to be a balloon artist. This balloon animal kit is a great way to get started.
6. Gift Wrapping Service
During the holidays especially, you could offer a service where you will wrap gifts for people who live near you. All you need is some wrapping paper!
7. Candy Maker
If you enjoy sweets, then creating your very own candy to sell would be fun! You can use a chocolate bar maker, for example, to make unique candy.
8. DIY Soap
Create and sell your own soap, using this kit to start off with.
9. Bath Bomb Creator
Make your very own bath bombs and body scrubs using this kit.
10. Cake Decorator
How about making and decorating cakes for special occasions like birthdays, graduations and anniversaries?
11. Tutor
Do you enjoy teaching other kids? If you are strong in a particular subject, you could tutor younger children who may need help in that area.
12. Clothing Designer
If you love fashion, how about designing and creating your own clothes to sell? You could start with a basic sewing machine and some fun fabric.
13. Jewelry Design
Creating beaded bracelets or these trendy leather necklaces, there are tons of options for making your own jewelry to sell!
14. Blogger
If you love writing, but do not want to self-publish a book, becoming a blogger is lots of fun!
15. Dog Walker
Do you love dogs? Then how about becoming a dog walker for families in your neighborhood?
16. Dog Treats
If you love dogs and baking, you could start selling dog treats using these cute molds.
17. Dog Groomer
You could also offer services for washing and grooming dogs.
18. Dog Sitter
If families are going out of town, or at work for long periods of time, you could ask to be their dog sitter.
19. Babysitter
Depending on your age, there is almost always a demand for babysitters to watch children, particularly in the summer, during work hours and for date nights.
20. Lawn Services
If you are old enough to use a lawn mower, you could start your own lawn service. Another option is to offer weed pulling and mulching services.
21. Gardener
Help plant beautiful gardens and design landscapes for families in your area. Again, you could tie into this weed removal and mulching services.
22. Leaf Removal
In the fall, you can create a business to rake up the leaves that fall off of the trees.
23. Snow Removal
Another seasonal business is snow removal. You can shovel snow for your neighbors for a small fee.
24. Costume Designer
A month or so before Halloween, you can offer to design unique, custom costumes for kids.
25. Computer Repair Services
For our older kids, if you are tech savvy, you could start your own computer repair service.
26. Car Wash
Similar to offering a lemonade stand in your driveway, you could offer car washes instead! This would work particularly well if you have a sibling (or friend) who wants to join your business!
27. Photography
If you love taking photos, you can start offering photo shoots for a small fee to build your portfolio!
28. Garage Sale
Whether you want to sell stuff in a conventional garage sale, or on Facebook’s marketplace, or completely online via eBay, this can be a great way to start a business.
29. Cleaning Service
Do you love cleaning? You could offer cleaning services to people who live in your area.
30. Paper Flower Maker
Create beautiful flowers out of paper to sell for events (birthday parties, for example), or even during holidays (like Valentine’s Day!) Paper Blooms is a great book to learn how to make 25 different paper flowers.
How to Create a Mind Map Online
Is nothing really resonating from the above list of business ideas for kids? Don’t worry! A mind map is a great tool for organizing information visually and is ideal for brainstorming. Let’s take a look at how to create a mind map online (or with a free printable).
A Mind Map Template
You will start by exploring who you are with this mind map template and worksheet, which will cover the following topics.
- What matter the most to you? What are your priorities and values?
- Then, you will explore all of your dreams (including totally wild and crazy ones!) by completing a “what if I could” activity.
- Create a mind map to graphically organize your dream list.
- Pick one of your goals and think about why you are passionate about that goal. Then, brainstorm ways to achieve the goal.
- What are your superpowers? By taking a look at your strengths, you can make a separate mind map to explore how you can maximize strengths to your benefit!
Free Mind Map Online
If you prefer to create a mind map online, I would highly recommend using Canva’s tool! You can answer similar questions as you did above, but build a very professional looking mind map using drag-and-drop blocks. There are over 20 mind map templates to pick from too, which is fun!
What is Reverse Brainstorming?
Would you like to add more to your list of business ideas for kids? One more way to “think outside of the box” while you are brainstorming business ideas, is to do something called reverse brainstorming. With this technique, rather than trying to solve a problem, you actually come up with ideas for how to make a problem worse! Watch the following Girl Scout’s entrepreneurship video to learn more about reverse brainstorming, and then give it a try to see what business ideas it helps you to generate!
Observation vs Inference Worksheet
What is the difference between an observation and an inference? An observation is a fact that we generally perceive using our five senses. For example, if you and your friend use a ruler to measure the length of the same straw, you will both get the same measurement. What you think can’t change the length that you measure.
On the other hand, inferences are what we think about something. For example, if you and your friend look at a glass that is filled halfway to the top, you might say “the glass is half full,” while your friend says “the glass is half empty.”
Observation vs Inference Example
Let’s take a look at another example. Imagine that you see a dog barking outside. Someone you who sees a cat a few feet away might make the inference that the dog is barking at the cat. Yet, a person who does not see the cat, but sees a mailman approaching, might make the inference that the dog is barking at the mailman. The observation is the fact that the dog is barking. The inference is what you conclude, using your own thinking skills, is the reason that the dog is barking.
Free Observation vs Inference Worksheet {Printable}
As an entrepreneur, it important to always be making observations and to examine various inferences, based on what you see. Here is a free, printable worksheet to make sure that you understand the difference between an observation and an inference.
Now, make sure that as you make observations over the next week, that you think about various inferences that one could reach from each one!
Idea Journal for Kids
One more thing that every aspiring entrepreneur should have is an idea journal! Once you get into the entrepreneurial mindset, you will find that you are constantly coming up with new business ideas! Write them down! Every single one of them, regardless of how good, bad, crazy, wacky or bizarre the ideas may seem!
Girls Idea Journal
My daughter absolutely loves this “Her Ideas Are Pure Gold” journal, because it has a beautiful gold cover and reminds her that her ideas are awesome.
The Brilliant Ideas Launch Pad
If you are the kind of person who comes up with an idea, and then likes to go into a bit more depth analyzing the concept, then you will LOVE The Brilliant Ideas Launch Pad. The pages are pre-filled with great templates to stretch your thinking process for each idea you come up with.
Hatch Notebook
One more fantastic idea journal (which is used by adults as well), is the Hatch Notebook – Idea Journal, Project Planner & Brainstorming Notebook for Entrepreneurs. The detailed pages and templates in this notebook will walk you through three steps for your ideas: conceive, incubate and hatch.
And the most fun part… share your list of business ideas for kids that you came up with in our Facebook Group and Facebook Page, so that we can give you feedback! You never know what resources, help or ideas you might get by brainstorming with other kids!
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