By Jill McDonough
First, let me say that you must be an amazing grandparent if you clicked on this post to read.
You care about your grandkids and want to be involved in their lives. They will feel that love and involvement and that’s something money can’t buy.
So let’s talk about kid entrepreneurs. It sounds like a new concept but, as you may have personally experienced, this idea has been around since virtually the beginning of time.
Kids have always watched their parents and modeled their behavior (good or bad). Parents have always been concerned with money and supporting the family. Up until our modern family structure, kids supported the family whether by working on the farm, learning the father’s trade, watching children for money, etc.
The average American boy plays video games 20 hours a week. That’s a part-time job with no pay!
I think that kids should definitely play and “have a childhood,” but this statistic is insane! I’m not against video games 100%, but this time could be spent on a much more worthy endeavor. Even if just half of that time was spent on another passion that would hone skills for the future work world.
Again, I don’t want to take away childhoods or reinstate child labor, but the fact remains that we are adults much more of our life than we are children. We need to spend some of our childhood looking ahead to the future and thinking about our future selves. As grandparents, you can help with that.
But how? Well, here are a few suggestions:
Converse with your grandchildren. Ask them…
- What they think they want to be when they grow up.
- About their favorite subject in school.
- What they like to do in their free time. This will give you insight into the unique little beings that they are.
Try to avoid putting down any careers or hobbies they may suggest. Parents and grandparents are quick to say that something is dangerous or you can’t make any money at that.
The truth is, we are not all cookie cutter people. We have been made with unique strengths, loves, weaknesses and abilities. With this first step, just try and get inside their head and heart without inserting your opinion.
My oldest from ages 3-7 wanted to be a hot dog seller. He didn’t want to run a restaurant but rather a hot dog cart. I knew this would not be his ultimate career, but it is still helpful to focus on the “career” they are interested in.
We had a lot of fun coming up with unique hot dogs he could sell. We saw how practical math is when we found a hot dog cart online and talked about how many weeks it would take him to purchase the cart at his current level of pay of $5/week.
We also discussed topics like starting a business with debt. We talked with hot dog restaurant owners in town. They were so impressed with my son that they said they would hire him when he was of age. We even ran with that idea and talked about how he could learn a lot about the hot dog business as an employee of a restaurant.
My youngest wanted to be a pilot from ages 3-6. We got him a pilot outfit that he loved to wear. On his birthday we took him to the Air Zoo in Kalamazoo, MI which is an air/space museum. He loved experiencing the flight simulators and looking at all of the planes. While at a party, I happened to start talking with a real pilot. I asked him about his training and his suggestions for “raising a pilot”.
Did we push careers on our kids or “overtalk” them? I don’t believe so. Children need to be educated on the different careers out there anyways. They might as well “deep dive” into any career that interests them. Worst case scenario: they won’t be become a pilot but they’ll know a lot about that field. There’s nothing wrong with knowledge!
Take your grandchildren to places that highlight an interest of theirs.
If your grandchild wants to be a fireman, see if you can tour a fire station. (Most are very open to welcoming curious kids.) If your grandchild wants to be a chef, take a cooking class together. Discuss what they liked and didn’t like.
Discuss the different jobs associated with their passion. If there’s a way to pursue their passion as an entrepreneur, talk with the parents about selling at a craft fair or among your friends.
Use their birthdays and holidays as a time to purchase something towards their entrepreneurial goals.
For younger kids, purchase dress up outfits for the career that interests them. For wanna be writers, purchase notebooks and great novels to read. The budding artist should receive high quality art supplies.
If your grandkids already have a mini business going, talk with their parents about purchasing a website or helpful software for their business needs. Pay for the cost of business cards.
Encourage but don’t over encourage.
Being an entrepreneur, even as an enthusiastic kid, hits bumps and is difficult. Ask them about the business and praise the smallest victories.
So what is over encouraging? You do not help or encourage your grandchildren if you buy all their product. They’re not learning business skills that way.
It’s hard as grandparents to not shower grandkids with love (and money). Please remember that you’re HURTING them if they learn that Grandma and Grandpa will buy all of my product.
When your grandchildren are older, do you want them to open a “real” business and have no idea how to advertise, set prices, manage customers, etc?
Grandchildren naturally love their grandparents. My grandparents didn’t have to do or say much to encourage me. Just having them aware of my interests and taking an interest in them was a huge motivator for me.
Enjoy the time spent with your grandchildren. Get to know their passions, their business ideas, take them to interesting (to them) places, buy them items they find interesting and keep encouraging them!
And be encouraged that YOU are doing a great job as a grandparent!
Need some ideas for side hustles for your grandchildren? Click on my full list of side hustles for kids with lots of great advice.
