Teaching kids entrepreneurship to your 7-year-old can be extremely beneficial. Entrepreneurial skills help your child learn how to earn and budget money, run a small business, and feel successful. But, how do you teach these skills to your kid? I’ve done some research and put together an article to help you know how to teach your 7-year-old!
So, how do you teach entrepreneurship to a 7-year-old? Explaining the benefits of learning entrepreneurial skills to your 7-year-old will encourage them to be creative about how they work for money. Also, kids thrive on visual examples, so watching a cartoon that shows children being entrepreneurs is another great way to teach your child those skills, but the best way to teach is through practice.
Entrepreneurship is an important skill for children to learn because it can teach them how to manage money and work hard in a world that often struggles with these concepts. Above, I listed a few small examples of how you can teach your 7-year-old about entrepreneurship, but there are many ways you can go about this.
So, here are my five in-depth tips for teaching your 7-year-old about entrepreneurship.
1) Start by Teaching Them Through Play
7-year-olds love playtime, and playtime can be a great time for them to learn life skills in a stress-less environment. There are many entrepreneurial themed games you could play with your child to help get them excited about these skills. Some of these can be store-bought, and some of them you can create using household objects throughout your home!
The Grocery Store Game
This is a game my mom and I liked to play together all the time when I was little. I would pretend to be the cashier who checks my mom’s groceries out. This was a great way for me to learn how to handle products, manage money, and have fun doing it all at the same time.
Now, you can get fancy with this by buying a little play kit like this, or you can put together your own at home by printing out some fake money, gathering household items (like cans, a roll of toilet paper, etc…), and playing together that way.
Roller Coaster/ Zoo Tycoon
This awesome computer game allows your 7-year-old to express their creative side by letting them design their own roller coaster park or zoo. They can place attractions that earn an income and allows them to build more animal enclosures or rides. If they don’t manage thier money well, they won’t be able to build more things.
This is a great game, and I encourage you to play it with your child, so you can see how they think and help teach them money management concepts they might not understand.
Monopoly
This game may be a little harder for 7-year-olds to understand and enjoy, but it is a great way to teach them about buying products and managing money to be successful.
For those of you who have never played Monopoly, this game is all about buying property that gives you a specific amount of income each time another player lands on it. The goal of the game is to acquire the most property and money without going bankrupt. Like I said, it can be a little tricky for kids to understand, but you can always adapt the rules to make it easier for the kids.
2) Teach Entrepreneurship Using Examples
Kids love learning through examples, and I remember learning about entrepreneurship when I was a child through the shows and movies I watched. I would often see kids in those shows put together a cookie sale or lemonade stand and try to sell those items for a small price. Though I didn’t know what to call it at the time, I was leaning those skills.
So, here are some great shows and movies about entrepreneurship for kids:
- Boss Baby Back in Business: This Netflix kid’s show, adapted from the movie, focuses on the main characters Tim and Leslie leaning about the business world and how to work together.
- Biz Kids: This show is aimed at showing young entrepreneurs who create their own products.
Also, besides these two shows, you can find examples of entrepreneurship in individual episodes of popular kids TV shows.
3) Help them Generate Ideas
This step has a lot to do with what your individual 7-year-old’s interests. Is your child interested in baking? building things? dinosaurs? What ever your son or daughter is interested in, you can help them think of things related to their interests that they can build or bake to sell to others.
This step has a lot to do with what your individual 7-year-old’s interests. Is your child interested in baking? building things? dinosaurs? What ever your son or daughter is interested in, you can help them think of things related to their interests that they can build or bake to sell to others.
Remember to let them take the reigns on building and creating, especially since 7-year-olds thrive on hands-on experience.
Pinterest is a great place to get some ideas you can present to your son or daughter. I’ve gone on there many times to find cute simple craft ideas to do with my kids when they get bigger.
4) Help Your 7-Year-Old get Started
This past Fourth of July I was walking around the park with my husband when we spotted some young kids running a little stand where they sold lemonade and popcorn balls. Naturally, I had to stop and buy some.
After you’ve find an idea that your child is interested in using for their little business, you will need to help them get started by buying materials for them or gathering household items that can be re-purposed.
If you need to buy materials, let your child be involved in picking things out. This can be a great time to teach them about how much things cost and how to manage money so that you can buy everything you need.
Once you have all the materials, sit down and help your child learn about to bake or build the thing they want to sell. Remember to let them take the reigns on building and creating, especially since 7-year-olds thrive on hands-on experience.
Once you have the product, teach them how to sell it by putting together a neighborhood stand of some kind or going door-to-door with them looking for buyers. Help boost their confidence by contributing to your child’s business and buying one of their products.
If your child has a hard time selling their product, encourage them to keep going and teach them about the value of failure. You might also consider getting other family members involved in contributing to your 7-year-old’s business.
5) Teach Them Money Management
Once your child has sold a few products and started earning a small profit, teach them about the important principles of saving and managing money. Encourage them to put a little aside for the future use the leftover money to buy themselves a toy they have been wanting.
When I was little, I really wanted a stuffed animal veterinary kit. My dad encouraged me to clean my room each day and promised that I could get the toy if I worked hard. He checked my room each day and reminded me of my responsibility. At the end of the week, he took me to the toy store to get the veterinary kit. I was so proud of myself for working hard, and continued the good habit of cleaning my room.
Now, this isn’t directly about entrepreneurship, but it is a good example of how saving can influence a child. Saving money will also help your child build a savings they can draw on in the future for important things they may need. Encourage your children to spend their money on important things as well as fun things.
Related Questions
Should I make my 7-year-old save money? Teaching your 7-year-old to save money can help them learn important money skills at a young age. Building these skills at an early age will help your child be responsible with money use as they grow.
How can I help my 7-year-old learn to be responsible? Giving your 7-year-old an opportunity to take care of a specific chore or pet in the house is a great way to help your child learn responsibility. This is especially true if you praise an encourage your child in their responsibility often. Making your child feel like a valuable part of your home by encouraging them to contribute to the well-being of the home.
