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Activities to Encourage An Entrepreneurial Spirit in Your Children

by Ann Hadsall-Allen

Most parents feel that they are not equipped to teach their children about entrepreneurship, or the ins and outs of owning and running a business. The fact is there are several activities you can do to encourage an entrepreneurial spirit in your children. Many day-to-day activities can be used to teach them the importance of everyday math, social, and organizational skills that are necessary for successfully running a business.

Here are a few suggestions that you can do with your children while going about your daily activities.

K-2nd grades:  Teach your early elementary age children the value of supervisory skills by letting them help you keep up with the weekly activity schedule.  Offer to pay them 25 cents for reminding you of each upcoming event that is recorded on your weekly schedule.  Ask them to record a check for each reminder and pay them for the total at the end of the week.

3rd-5th grades:  This age group is ready to learn the value of good organizational practices. Let them plan the most efficient route to take when you have a lot of errands to run. Most children this age are also ready to learn basic money-handling skills and this is a good time to let them make some of the cash transactions that take place while you are out and about.

6-8th grades: To teach your middle school children the value of record keeping, challenge them to do a job that will be paid by the unit.  Your child might agree to vacuum the living room for 10 cents per square foot, to be paid weekly.  In order to collect their pay, they must submit an invoice that lists the dates, price per unit, and number of units sold; in this case, how many square feet were vacuumed that week.

9-12th grades:  Help your high school children understand the importance of research by following the stocks of companies that interest them. Have them make a chart of the stocks that they "bought" and track the profits and losses after checking the financial section of the daily newspaper.  Ask them for a written review and analysis of each stock after charting its performance for 30 days.

There are many other activities you can do with your children to encourage an entrepreneurial spirit. The main thing to keep in mind is to have fun and be creative.

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Ann Hadsall-Allen is the mother of 6 children ages 1-15. She and her husband, Terry, are entrepreneurs and they believe it is very important to teach children about business and money management as early as possible. Their three oldest children have been in business for themselves since the age of eight. Ann and Terry stress the importance of learning the pros and cons of the business world, regardless of income.