Teach your child the value of the dollar and encourage their entrepreneurial spirit by helping them make and sell their crafts. After all, 62% of US billionaires are self-made.
Things kids can make and sell
We’ve chosen 14 best-selling easy and profitable things that your children can make and sell.
What’s more, they don’t take a lot of time to prepare and require minimum supplies.
Simply pick one of the options below that your child will enjoy and be good at making then start selling at local craft fairs, garage sales or online.
Run a lemonade stand
Running a lemonade stand is a fun way to teach children and teens the basics of business and finance.
Setting up your stand in your front yard will help you attract passing trade.
Create an eye-catching sign and don’t forget to advertise your lemonade stand in local Facebook community groups to get more business.
What you’ll need
- Lemons
- Sugar
- Hot and cold water
Here’s a simple recipe to help you get started.
Grow and sell a bouquet of flowers
Give your children the experience of growing their own flowers and selling them.
If you don’t have a large garden, a few small containers in a windowsill or planters are enough to produce some plants.
Once your flowers have grown, children will love picking them and arranging them in a bouquet to sell to the local community.
What you’ll need
All you will need are some flower seeds and soil. Easy flowers for children to grow include:
- Sunflowers
- Marigolds
- Zinnias
- Nasturtiums
- Bachelor buttons
Sell candy boxes
If one of your child’s favorite hobbies is eating candy, they can also turn it into a money-making business.
While schools may be an obvious target, adults have a sweet tooth too so make sure you market at a range of age groups.
It’s important to make your sweet offerings unique by providing a range of flavors and types of candy.
What you’ll need
- Invest in different types of candy
- Paper bags or plastic cartons
Bake brownies
Brownies are just the right level of difficulty for child bakers.
Plus, nobody can resist fresh brownies. What’s more, brownie mix is cheap and you can sell them for a great profit.
Contact the health department in your state to find out where you can operate your brownie business and what licenses you will need to sell to the public.
Hand out samples at local events and festivals to grow your customer base.
What you’ll need
- Butter
- Cocoa powder
- Eggs
- Vanilla extract
- Sugar
- Flour
Make homemade dog treats
One of the things kids can make to sell is homemade dog treats.
Dog owners love to spoil their pooch, making a dog treat business a great opportunity for children to make money from.
To start with, keep it simple by offering a small selection of different dog-friendly treats.
Help your child come up with a creative, memorable business name.
What you’ll need
- Dog-friendly ingredients such as fruits, vegetables, peanut butter, honey and rice
- Packaging for your treats
Get creative with dreamcatchers
If you’re looking for crafts kids can make and sell, dreamcatchers are a popular option.
Your target market for dreamcatchers are children who love having them in their room.
For an alternative option, put together a dreamcatcher kit and sell it to people who would enjoy making their own.
What you’ll need
- Yarn
- Decorative items such as sticky gems and pom poms
- Plastic plates
- Glue
- Scissors
- A box or packaging (if selling a kit rather than a finished product)
Create and sell slime
Slime is a current trend and guaranteed to sell out fast. Kids also love selling it to other kids.
Making slime is a simple process that only requires a few ingredients.
Attract more customers by creating different colors, scents and textures of slime.
Buying your ingredients in bulk will maximize your profit margins.
What you’ll need
- Glue
- Saline solution
- Baking soda
- Food coloring
- Packaging for your slime
Make and sell bath bombs
Did you know that bath bombs can be made using ingredients found in your cupboards?
You can even hide small toys in them for an extra surprise, and a unique selling point.
Research child-friendly bath bomb recipes to ensure you make ones that are safe for children to use.
What you’ll need
- Baking soda
- Citric acid
- Cornstarch
- Coconut oil
- Natural food coloring
- Essential oils such as chamomile and lavender
- Bath bomb molds
- Mixing bowl
Get busy with bookmarks
Readers love unique and personalized bookmarks, and they are also a low-cost item to make that is perfect for kids’ craft.
Parents will love you for making reading more fun too.
Start by selling your handmade bookmarks to friends and the local community before advertising your creations online too.
What you’ll need
- Self-adhesive foam pieces
- Good quality multi-colored cardboard
- Googly eyes
- Stickers
- Ribbon
- Scissors
- Glue
- Pen or pencil
Design custom T-shirts
T-shirts are a popular choice for entrepreneurs who are looking for an inexpensive way to start a business.
Adding popular and trending sayings to your T-shirts will help them sell well.
You could even ask your kids to design a custom home town t-shirt and sell it in your community.
What you’ll need
- Printer
- T-shirts
- Transfer paper
- Heat press
- Cutter
Have fun with shaped crayons
Making DIY fun-shaped crayons with molds is a big hit with children.
It’s also a great way to recycle broken crayons lying around the house.
Simply melt down old crayons into a mold, then take them out once they’ve cooled and hardened.
The new crayons will be ready to start selling in only an hour, making it a perfect craft to make money for children.
Experiment with mixing different crayons to create unique color combinations.
What you’ll need
- Crayons
- Warm water
- Silicone molds
- Baking sheet
- Oven
Design and create greetings cards
Cardmaking is a simple yet fun activity that children can do, and make money from.
Children’s art makes great card designs too. Let them experiment with paints and designs then simply cut the paintings into shapes such as balloons, presents, cakes and place them onto a piece of card in a contrasting color for a unique design.
What you’ll need
- Good quality card
- Paint
- Paintbrushes
- Scissors
- Glue
- Marker pen
- Stickers or other decorative items
Make some jewelry
Creating your own jewelry is great fun for children and teens that encourages creativity and the chance to make something unique.
Beaded necklaces are a great place to start.
Try expanding into the leather bracelet market for higher profit margins.
Nobody will be able to resist jewelry made by little hands.
What you’ll need
- Glue
- Beading thread
- Beads
- Closures
- Wire cutter
Start a soap and candle making business
This craft will need adult supervision, but soap and candles are popular items at street fairs and events especially if they contain organic ingredients.
Experiment with scents using essential oils and natural ingredients.
Once you find a popular scent that people like, make it into a candle to buy as a gift set.
What you’ll need
- Coconut oil
- Olive oil
- Distilled water
- 100% pure lye
- Essential oils
- Colorants
- Slow cooker
- Scales
- Silicone spatulas
- Thermometer
- Silicone molds
Encourage the ambitions of young entrepreneurs
So, if you’ve got an entrepreneur in the making who is searching for easy things to make and sell for kids, give our ideas a go. You never know where their drive and determination will take them. For the latest financial advice for teenagers, check out our comprehensive blog articles.
