My 5 year old son is very motivated by money. There are few things he won’t do for a couple of quarters. I really admire his ambition, which has encouraged me to reflect on tons of ways kids can earn money. Because the truth is, he actually doesn’t need to work for pennies. There are ton of things he can do to earn legit money and I feel responsible as his mom to help him figure those things out. (And dang, wouldn’t it be nice if he could start his own savings or college fund at the ripe old age of 5 ha). So, if you are looking for more ways kids can earn money, you’ve come to the right place. If you are looking for ways for kids to earn money online, you can skip down to the second half of this page (honestly that is my preferred method so I highly recommend making your way down there). 

WAYS KIDS CAN EARN MONEY

GARAGE SALE

One of my favorite ways kids can earn money is by hosting a garage sale. Have them go through and declutter the house (with your help of course, you wouldn’t want them getting rid of something you love) and price out things to sell. Have them advertise the garage sale online, through social media, and placing signs throughout your neighborhood. I love this because not only can your kiddo(s) earn money this way, but you also get a decluttered house. Win Win. 

YARD WORK

Yard work is an excellent way for kids to earn money, whether they are doing it for you or someone else. The sad truth is if you live in a house, there is yard work to be done, and many people simply don’t have the time, energy, and or willingness to do it. Your child could mow, pick weeds, plant flowers, edge, and or plant a garden for others. What I like about yard work is that it doesn’t require much for your child to get started– maybe just a pair of gloves and a willingness to work. (P.S. I thought these cute gloves were perfect). 

WASH CARS 

I started my very first business when I was 8 years old– washing my neighbors cars! I did door to door sales in those days. We lived in a safe neighborhood and it was just different times. I walked around with my bucket full of car wash soap, wax, and towels. I charged $2 per car. I remember coming home with $24 the first day and feeling like the richest kid on earth! Probably a more effective business model would be to let the cars come to your kid. Have them call around and see if there are any high traffic parking lots they can use. Or offer up your services on places like your neighborhood Facebook group and have people come to you. There are tons of ways you can do this! Most kids think washing cars is fun, plus they’ll earn some cash doing it. 

DOG WALKER

If your kid is old enough to care for someone else’s dog, your child could become a dog walker. Of course you’ll want to make sure your child is safe. You could start by having them only walk dogs of friends that you know. Reach out to people at church, in your neighborhood, and other friends. 

CLEAN UP DOG WASTE

Speaking of dogs. another way for your child to earn money is to clean up dog waste. We had a neighborhood kid recently who offered this service for $5. He comes once a week and quickly picks up dog waste for the neighbors and said that he averages about $30 an hour on Saturdays. Not a bad side gig if you can handle a little poo!

EMPTY CAT LITTER

Similarly, your kiddo could take care of other people’s cats and litter boxes.

CREATE A PRODUCT/START A BUSINESS

One of the best ways to earn money, in my opinion, is to create your own product or to otherwise start your own business. (P.S. this is true for adults as well as kids!) While this requires the most work, it definitely reaps the most reward. Have your child brain storm ideas for products they could create and sell. It could be something as simple as making and selling a scarf (I know two teens who started making scarves, sold enough to pay for college, and eventually started a very legit business such that they didn’t need to go to college!) or something more novel. If you need help starting a business, I have a free Checklist for Starting a Business which will help you start a business from start to finish– brainstorming ideas for your business through working through all the little details. Grab it here. 

LEMONADE STAND

Another easy way for kids to make money is to start a lemonade stand! I feel like this is just a rite of passage as a kid. Lemonade is so cheap to buy, easy to make, and easy to sell on a hot summer day. Just make sure you are complying with any rules your HOA or ordinances your city might have (we’ve all heard those stories on the news of little kids getting fined for trying to run a simple lemonade stand– good grief). 

BAKE SALE

In addition, your child could stash some extra cash by having a bake sale. He or she could even do routine bake sales, weekly or monthly, to keep some steady cash coming in. 

BABY SIT

If your child is old enough, he or she could babysit for extra money on the weekends or in the evenings. 

PET SIT

Another option is pet sitting. Hang up signs around your neighborhood, join your neighborhood’s Facebook group, or go door to door offering your child’s services. Anyone who has a pet will likely need a pet sitter they can trust at some point, and that might as well be your kiddo! 

WASH WINDOWS

Washing windows is another really easy way your kid could make some extra money. You could have them wash interior and or exterior windows of people’s homes. Our windows in Arizona get dirty so fast since it’s like a dust bowl out here, not to mention the fact that we have a dog and a 5 year old. I’d pay a penny for someone to routinely wash our windows that’s for sure. 

BECOME A MODEL

Another way kids can earn money is by becoming a model. You simply start by reaching out to a kids’ modeling agency near you. Some important factors to help your child be successful– they should be a good listener, not afraid of strangers, and you should be available at the drop of a hat to take them to an audition. 

HOW CAN A KID MAKE MONEY ONLINE FAST? 

SELL THINGS ONLINE

One is my favorite ways kids can earn money is by selling things online through websites like Poshmark. There are a few benefits to this. You can have your kid declutter their bedroom or other places of your home and sell those things online. So you get a clean home, and they get some cash. Win Win.

All you do is go through and find all the things you want to sell. Poshmark allows you to sell clothes, home goods, shoes, luxury items, boutique items, etc. Once you have all the things you are ready to sell, you create a listing in Poshmark to sell your item. 

Another way I like to do this is to have my kids find things at places like thrift stores or on the clearance rack at our favorite stores, fix or clean them up a little, and then resell them on Poshmark. Basically, flipping items for profit! 

You can get started with Poshmark using my affiliate code AMBERLMASTERS to earn your first $10! And then have your child get busy selling so they can make money online fast! 

If you need ideas on how to be successful selling on Poshmark, check out my blogpost on all things Poshmark here. 

TURN RECEIPTS INTO CASH

If you are willing to share your grocery receipts, your child can turn your grocery and gas receipts into cash with free apps like Fetch and Ibotta. 

With Fetch, all you do is download the app and sign up for an account here (you’ll earn $2 for using my affiliate code: YUUG7). Then, your child can start scanning all of your grocery receipts any time you go grocery shopping or buy gas! They will earn rewards points that they can trade in for all kinds of gift cards (Visa, Amazon, etc). 

Ibotta works similarly, except that you’ll need to coordinate with your child on what items you are going to purchase at the grocery store before you upload your receipts. Your child will have to go through the app and choose the rebates you want before you make your purchases (like digitally clipping coupons). After you’ve done this and bought your items, you’ll upload your receipt into the app to get CASH. Once you’ve reached $20, they’ll pay you in cash (to a PayPal account) or your child can choose a gift card from many options like Fetch. Earn an easy $5 on Ibotta just for signing up here after you upload your first receipt! Super easy.

I’ve found that Ibotta usually has higher earning potential, but since Fetch is so easy to use, your kiddo might as well do both to make money online fast! 

START A BLOG

Starting a blog is a fun way for kids to earn money. Help them brainstorm something they are interested in, maybe it’s a sport, or crocheting, it could be anything really as long as you have a niched down topic for them to blog about. Preferably something that they know something about or have experience with. They can share their ideas on a blog. 

Blogs can be monetized in tons of ways including advertising, affiliate marketing, and selling your own products. Help your child brain storm their blog idea and then how they want their blog to earn money before you get started. Once you have an idea and are ready, you can check out these posts so that you can get all set up. It’s surprisingly easy to start a blog! 

How to Start a Blog 

How to Make Money from a Blog

TAKE SURVEYS

Taking online surveys and performing other online tasks is another really easy way for kids to make money. Instead of playing games on their phones, have them take surveys, watch videos,  and perform other easy online tasks for rewards points that they can turn into gift cards with Swagbucks or Inbox Dollars. They’ll need to be at least 13. 

Inbox Dollars will give you $5 just for signing up. Then, you can have your kiddo follow this easy to-do list to earn $30 today, just make sure you sign up with my affiliate link first so that you can start out with your $5.

Swagbucks is fairly similar to Inbox Dollars. Your child will earn $5 just for signing up, and then you can perform a variety of online tasks to earn rewards points to trade in for gift cards.

HELP PEOPLE SET UP WEBSITES

Another thing an older child could do is help people set up their websites. Digital businesses are growing and will continue to grow (especially during the coronavirus outbreak). If you can teach your child how to set up a website (it’s really SO easy) he or she can set them up for other people for a fee! If you want to learn how to set up a website, check out my post on How to Start a Blog in 5 Easy Steps. 

BECOME AN INSTAGRAM INFLUENCER

Another idea for your kiddo to earn some cash is to become an Instagram influencer. In my opinion, this works best if your child has a special skill to share. Are they a good dancer? Piano player? Artist? Super good at crochet? Have them focus on a skill to teach other people and share. They can put out content related to that skill and work with businesses who sell related products. For example, say your kid is an amazing ukulele player. They can share songs and their skill on Instagram. Then, they could do affiliate marketing (i.e., sell other companies related products) to their followers, such as ukulele’s or music or instruction on how to play the ukulele. 

START A YOUTUBE CHANNEL

Another thing your child could do to make some money is start a YouTube channel. One nice thing about starting a YouTube channel is that your child can reuse a lot of the same content they are putting into Instagram onto YouTube which gives them a greater chance at earning more money without having to do much more work. 

Just a quick word of caution, anytime you put anything on the internet for the public to see, you are opening yourself up to weird and or mean people who may say or do hurtful things. Obviously these are the kinds of things that we want to protect our children from, so just be careful what kinds of content you are releasing. Never reveal personal information (like where you live, what your house looks like etc). While kids can make money online fast, you don’t want that to come at the expense of their self worth and or safety. 

Obviously there are plenty of ways your child can earn money, it’s just a matter of finding something that works for you and your child. 

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