When I was a child, I made money by doing a newspaper route. I would come home after school and a stack of newspapers would be waiting for me.
I would roll them, put them in my bicycle basket and head out to deliver over 100 newspapers.
Sunday mornings were a beast. I would get up at 5:00 am and head out to deliver the newspapers...no matter how cold it was.
I made over $125 dollars a month delivering the newspapers. That was a decent amount of money for a kid back in the 70's and early 80's.
Times have changed. You will rarely or never hear of kids' doing paper routes. For one thing, hard copy newspapers are way down in sales. Most people catch the news on their mobile device or other avenues of technology.
I wouldn't let children do newspaper routes by themselves in today's culture. Too many risks for abduction, abuse and other dangers.
Today's kids may not have newspaper routes, but they have plenty of other opportunities to make money. Let's look at a few of the ways today's kids are making money.
1. Chores and other odd jobs around the house. Parents can put dollar amounts on doing the dishes, mowing the yard, washing the dog, etc.
2. Selling stuff online. Parents can help their children sell items online such as clothes, books, toys, etc.
3. Having a yard sale. Let the children be responsible for setting it up, bargaining and selling items.
4. Hosting a YouTube channel. Have you heard of EvanTubeHD? He’s a kid who makes over $1.6 million each year with his YouTube channel.
It was recently announced that the top earner on YouTube is a seven-year-old who made 22 million dollars in one year by unboxing and playing with toys on video!
5. Mowing yards.
6. Washing cars.
7. Start an Instagram account. Mila Stauffer has over 4 million followers on Instagram. She has stolen the hearts of people with her sassy, yet adorable videos of her thoughts. She’s found an excellent way to make money online.
Want to know how old she is? She hasn’t even made it to the double digits yet. She is 9 years old. And she has been able to get social media sponsorships from the major players like Tylenol.
Earning money can help children learn responsibility, develop a strong work ethic and discover how finances works.
As children's ministry leaders, we have the opportunity to partner with parents and teach kids what God says about money.
I currently have 2 teaching series for kids that focus on how to manage your finances, how to be generous and how to honor God with the money He provides you with.
Series 1 is called "Money Talks". And yes, money really does talk in this series. Here's a video sample.
If you are reading this in an email and can't see the video, you can access it through this link.
You can also see lesson samples, small group discipleship plans and more at this link.Series 2 is called "Kid Bank President." Here's a video sample from the series.
If you are reading this in an email and can't see the video, you can access it through this link.
You can also see lesson samples, small group discipleship plans and more at this link.
