How children can earn their own pocket money
The best way to teach our child about money is to encourage him to earn it and then manage it himself. It is important for parents to help their children make the connection between work and money from an early age.
Work awakens in children a sense of fulfillment and the conviction that they have done something they can be proud of. Working makes them confident that they can go out into the world and win. As soon as children understand that money is the result of work, they will no longer spend it on a toy without considering how much work they put in to produce that money. The work done makes every thing bought to be perceived as an achievement, not a right that is due to them.
"First of all, the term allowance should not exist in their vocabulary. When we give an allowance it is like giving a child some money because he exists. How realistic is this in real life? How many of us adults get paid just for breathing? The allowance system doesn't teach kids how things work in real life, work does." says Carmen Iorgulescu, trainer of financial and entrepreneurial education for children, coordinator of Ken Academy programs.
Being part of the family, the child must have the responsibility to participate in the household chores, without receiving money for it. This is the basic, normal business category.
However, you can also define a category of "special" household chores, for which you allocate an amount of money. It could be those things you would hire someone for: cutting the grass, raking the leaves. "I believe that this is the category of tasks that you can relate to rather for the little ones (4-6 years). For them you have to find 2-3 tasks, simple and short, achievable. The goal is to bring them the sense of satisfaction of the work done, not to bring them down. Some suitable options would be: to collect the toys; to put the laundry in the dirty laundry basket; to pair the socks; to clean his own room", suggests Carmen Iorgulescu.
With the increase in age, 7-14 years, the activities can be varied and generate money outside the home.
Lemonade / muffins / home-made biscuits stand
This is a common option among children who want to earn money. Although common and quite easy to implement, it teaches children the basic lessons of entrepreneurship.
Help offered to parents and neighbors
As children grow, they can provide services such as: mowing the grass, walking and feeding pets, watering neighbors' flowers when they are away from home. Many people who have domestic animals prefer to have someone come to feed or walk the animals, rather than taking them to a special home during the absence from home.
Garage Sale / "sale fair"
Many children have stashes of toys, books, clothes, video games that they no longer use. Help them divide them into two categories: one part to donate, and for the other part to organize, together with some friends, a "sale fair (garage sale)". You can organize the event as a family and do such a "cleaning" yourself. Such a fair has a triple advantage: we tidy up the house, we learn to help, we earn money. Plus….there's a lot of fun in between and time spent together.
Can give lessons / meditations to other children
If he has certain passions or inclination towards something specific (mathematics, musical instruments, sports, art, etc.), he can pass on those things by organizing private lessons.
It can produce and sell various objects / decorations / paintings / jewelry
If you have a child who is passionate and talented in art, you can support him in promoting and selling his own creations (for example: crocheted scarves, jewelry, hand-painted glass objects, painted wood, paintings, home decorations, etc.). You can also support your child by facilitating their presence at an art fair / with a certain theme (such as those organized at the Romanian Peasant Museum). In order to develop his entrepreneurial thinking, it would be great if you told him what raw materials used mean, how we choose our suppliers from whom we buy them, what the costs are and how the selling price can be determined. It is extraordinary if you can identify the child's talent from an early age and you can support him and teach him how to earn money from that thing that he enjoys.
WebSite / Blog We are in the age of technology.
And if we still let our children use tablets and computers, why don't they at least use them constructively? Children can use their skills to develop websites or manage a blog.
Thematic sales: Christmas, Dragobete, Martisor, Easter
Think of products that can be dedicated to the holidays:
– Sweets / muffins with Ravaşe for Valentine's Day
– Painted eggs or Easter decorations
– Handmade carnations
Support your children in these initiatives. Help them produce their items, prepare their sales stand, make promotional materials, develop their techniques and knowledge to do a good job. In the list above you will find just a few suggestions of activities through which children can earn money.
Certainly, depending on the child's passions, you can find the most suitable path together. There are many ways that children can earn "pocket money", money that does not come from the parent's pocket. Supporting your child is a key element in their development as a responsible, responsible adult who enjoys doing what they do.
"So the next time your child begs you to buy him something new, how about suggesting he earn his own money and buy it himself? Or, if what he wants is expensive, how about offering to pay him half, and he puts the other half of the money he earns?”, concludes the financial education expert.
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