How To Make Money Fast as a Kid: 15 Best Ways
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, kids can’t legally take on their first job for an employer until they’re at least 14 years old. But that doesn’t mean your child can’t start finding ways to make money before then.
Read: How To Build Your Savings From Scratch
And learning how to make their own money at a young age can benefit kids later in life. Your kids will learn valuable skills they can put to use as an adult. Plus, it can help them learn proper money management skills. Here, you’ll find 15 ways to make money as a kid — from traditional ways they can bring in some extra cash to how they can start earning money online.
How To Make Money Fast as a Kid: 15 Ways
Not all ways to make money are appropriate for children, however, one or more of these suggestions could be a winner if you have a younger child who wants to start making money. Here are some examples of how to make money fast as a kid:
Work at a parent’s business
Set up a garage sale or yard sale
Water plants
Run a hot chocolate or lemonade stand
Create a YouTube channel
Sell unwanted items online
Sell handmade items
Make money on Twitch
Walk dogs
Create a Fiverr account
Bake
Grow a garden and sell vegetables
Recycle
Design and sell t-shirts
Mow lawns
1. Working at a Parent’s Business
If you’re self-employed, you can hire your kids to work for your business a few hours each week. This is a great way to teach them the basics of running a business and get some of those extra tasks done. Plus, the IRS will let you deduct your child’s wages as a business expense, as long the pay is reasonable, and the work is necessary.
They can do simple tasks like helping you sort mail or package items for shipping. Or, if you have older kids who are particularly tech-savvy, they can help you manage your social media accounts or website.
2. Setting Up a Garage Sale or Yard Sale
Setting up a garage sale or yard sale and selling the items is a great activity the entire family can get involved with. Not only will it help you clear those unwanted items out of your home, but it can also be an opportunity for your kids to earn some extra cash.
Help your kids go through their old clothes, shoes, toys and electronics to find items they want to get rid of. They can help you price and organize the items on tables and talk to neighbors who come by to browse through your sale.
3. Watering Plants
Another good way for a younger child to make money is to water plants for older neighbors or for people who go out of town. While they may need some instructions on how much water to give certain plants, this is an easy enough way for a younger kid to make money. If they already have the hose out, sometimes people are willing to pay for a car wash for good measure just an additional idea.
4. Running a Hot Chocolate or Lemonade Stand
If you live in a large, friendly neighborhood, setting up a hot chocolate or lemonade stand may not be such a bad idea. This would be especially good for younger kids who have limited money-making opportunities. Your child can set up a stand with a sign that briefly explains why he or she is trying to make money. People will be more likely to stop and buy a cup of hot chocolate or lemonade if they know it’s going to help someone reach a goal.
5. Creating a YouTube Channel
What kid doesn’t want to make money by starting a YouTube channel? Your child needs to be at least 13 to create a YouTube account. And legally, a child has to be over the age of 18 to make money on YouTube via AdSense or have a legal guardian over 18 who can handle the payments on his or her behalf.
Like blogging, the benefit of starting a YouTube channel is that you can get paid to talk about the things you find interesting. Whether it’s crafting, gaming or telling jokes, if you have something interesting to share, then there is an audience for it on YouTube.
6. Selling Unwanted Items Online
One of the easiest ways to make money online is by selling unwanted items on sites like eBay. But unless your child is 18, he or she will have to list their items for sale on your eBay account.
You can help your child start creating listings for the items they want to sell. Note that collector’s or vintage items can sell for quite a bit of money. And as they get more skilled with selling items online, some kids may want to branch out into flipping items. This involves buying products at a low cost, fixing them up slightly and reselling those same items for a profit.
7. Selling Handmade Items
Does one of your kids have a knack for designing jewelry or creating their own artwork? If so, they could sell their products to customers online via Etsy. This can be a great creative outlet and an opportunity for kids to make extra money. However, if your child is under 18, but between 13 and 17, he or she will have to sell items through your account because Etsy does not permit children under 18 to own their own account.
To get started, your child will need to set up their account and decide on the types of products they want to offer. From there, they can take photos, create a listing and sell these items through their Etsy shop.
Here are just a few of the items kids can create and sell on Etsy:
Printables
Homemade soap or bath bombs
Knitted scarves or hats
Holiday decorations
Jewelry
Calendars and planners
8. Making Money on Twitch
Twitch is a live streaming platform for gamers, and like YouTube, can be used to make money. It’s not going to happen overnight, but if they can build up an audience, kids can make decent money by playing video games on Twitch. The minimum age requirement to create an account on Twitch is 13.
There are a few different ways kids can make money online with platforms such as Twitch. Fans can donate money to their favorite streamers. Profits are generated when fans click on the ads on videos or purchase subscriptions.
9. Walk Dogs
If your kids love animals, they could earn good money by walking dogs. If you have neighbors who work outside of the house all day, then they might appreciate having someone stop by to walk their pets throughout the week.
Kids can also offer pet-sitting services, so your neighbors don’t have to board their pets when they go out of town. Your kids will be responsible for stopping by a couple of times a day, making sure the animals have food and water and letting them outside.
10. Create a Fiverr Account
As long as your child is at least 13, he or she can set up their own Fiverr account and offer their skills to make money. Fiverr has opportunities for musicians, graphic designers, writers and people skilled at video and animation.
11. Baking
Depending on who your child’s customers are, he or she won’t have to bake from scratch to take advantage of this money-making opportunity. A boxed mix of brownies sells for under $2 at Walmart and yields 20 servings. And if your child sells each brownie for 50 cents each, there’s room for a profit of around $8 per batch minus the eggs and oil needed to create the finished product.
12. Growing a Garden and Selling Vegetables
Your child will learn valuable skills and also make some money by growing a garden and selling vegetables. If your soil isn’t good for growing, you can help your child build some raised gardening boxes to add good soil to and plant the seeds in. Once the vegetables are ripe, take them to a local farmers market or advertise them for sale on a local community marketplace.
13. Recycling
While your child may not make a lot, recycling can be a way to make some extra cash. To get started, check to see if your state pays residents for beverage container recycling, like bottles or aluminum cans. Your child can also collect used printer cartridges from relatives, friends and small businesses. After collecting, send them in for a profit to places like TonerBuyer.com or InkRecycling.
14. Designing and Selling T-Shirts
Plenty of online platforms exist for creating and selling T-shirts, such as Printful, which allows you to sell on-demand without upfront costs. Keep in mind that these platforms will likely have age requirements, so you may have to open an account on your child’s behalf.
15. Mowing Lawns
Mowing lawns is one of the best ways for kids to make extra money during the summer. Everyone wants a nice-looking yard, but not everyone has the time or the desire to mow their lawn once or twice a week.
But it’s not just a great side hustle — it can also turn into a pretty good business model. If they do a good job, then they could start building up a base of repeat customers. And you can help them advertise their services on social media or in a neighborhood Facebook group.
And kids don’t just have to limit their servicing to mowing. They can also rake leaves, trim bushes and offer other types of yard work.
Final Take To GO
As your kids start getting older, it’s only natural they will want to start earning their own money. Fortunately, figuring out how to make money fast as a kid is easy. There are tons of opportunities, whether they want to utilize technology or not. With a little creativity and hard work, your kids will be on their way to earning an income of their own — even if you have to step in and give a helping hand at first.
FAQ
Here are the answers to some of the most frequently asked questions regarding ways to make money as a kid.
How can a 9-year-old make $100?
9-year-olds can make $100 by assisting parents with chores around the house and doing odd jobs for neighbors like walking dogs, taking care of plants and selling baked goods.
How can a kid make $300 fast?
Making $300 fast as a kid can be done by mowing lawns, selling stuff online, recycling and walking dogs.
How can a 13-year-old make $100 fast?
Here are a few ideas 13-year-olds can do to make $100 fast:
Work at a parent's business
Set up a garage sale or yard sale
Water plants
Create a YouTube channel
Sell unwanted items online
Walk dogs
Bake
Recycle
Design and sell t-shirts
Mow lawns
Caitlyn Moorhead contributed to the reporting for this article.
This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: How To Make Money Fast as a Kid: 15 Best Ways
