My nephews (ages 10 and 16) and my kids (ages 14, 12, and 10) are always saving up for something.
They want me to give them extra work around the house so I can pay them BUT we don’t typically pay for chores around here.
They do chores because they’re part of the family and then they get an allowance no matter what (so they can learn to manage money).
I realize that allowing them to earn extra cash and then manage that money would also be a great lesson.
So I am open to the idea of paying them to go above and beyond regular chores or for completing larger time consuming projects around the house.
I asked them to do some research on what things they’d like to offer, and I told them I would do the same.
I put these ideas in a handy list for our reference (and yours!).
Making Extra Cash for “Wants” Before School Starts Back
The next time my 5th grade son asks “How can I make $100 fast to buy Pokemon cards?” or when my 9th grade daughter asks “What is the best way for me to earn money for Airpods?”
I will be prepared with this handy list of tasks to refer to! 🙂
I hope you or your kids can use this list of ways for kids to make money over the summer as well!
Keep reading to find out some of the best ideas we came up with for the kids to do to earn extra cash this summer.
I’ll include a variety of jobs so no matter if your child is 8 or 18, they will find something on this list.
I find that older my kids get, the more they want cash to buy the things they want, so I think this list is perfect for:
- extra income before college or on college breaks
- boosting your wallet before Junior or Senior year begins
Money Making Ideas for Summer Break
Summer is a great time to offer help to families in your neighborhood in exchange for being paid a fair wage.
I’ve seen my neighborhood kids offer almost all of these services at some point, so I know they are great ideas!
As you’ll see, none of these are super hard or even take too much time for the kids to do, but they save TONS of time and effort for adults.
Anything that saves ME time and helps YOU is something I’m willing to pay for! 🙂
Let me break these down a bit so you can see what I mean – –
10+ Summer Jobs for Older Kids
All of the ideas would be a great way to make money in the summer for a 12, 13, 14, 17, or even an 18-year-old teen.
My nephew is just starting to drive at 16, and the price of insurance and gas has gone up recently. If he wants to be able to go anywhere at all, he’s going to need a job to make some cash quickly.
I’m sure this story is common everywhere. My daughter is already brainstorming ways to pay for car-related costs at 15.
1) Putting Down Mulch
Mulching is a hard job for a little kid to do. It’s heavy and stinks a little bit and takes a long time to do.
It is manual labor so having younger kids on this task may be out of their league, but an older teen could do this all day long no problem.
Hiring a professional landscaper would cost between $45 – $100 per hour for mulching. A teen offering this same service for a little bit less is an attractive prospect for any cash-conscious homeowner.
2) Car Detailing
I know that teens in my neighborhood can make nearly $300 each week by simply going around and cleaning cars.
Want to know how? Let’s break it down. If your 15-year-old charges $30 for an hour or car detailing and does 3 cars a day, that is $90 each day. Working just 3 days a week for 3 hours each time they would make $270!
And what other job can a teen make $30 per hour at? Imagine if they charged $50 and threw in a car wash or something extra.
That’s some serious money for a summer job.
Traditional summer jobs that pay well are few and far between. With the recent rise in gas prices and the interest rates skyrocketing, the job market is struggling to keep up with the inflation demand which makes working as a teen even harder.
This is exactly why having your kid start their own job is so amazing. Not only do they learn a little bit about business, but they can also officially add entrepreneur to their list of skills on future resumes.
They don’t need to begin a legitimate business, but they can name their business to give it a title to reference later on.
Names like Lil’ Mike’s Detailing Service or Blossom’s Gardening are catchy and cute. Adults love to see kids out there doing real work and earning money and having a name to go along with it is a wonderful word of mouth tool to use.
3) Delivering Food
If your teen has a car, delivering food is a great way to make some good money in their spare time during the summer break.
This is also a good side job to do on their off time if they aren’t hanging out with their friends. I know of a few teens that will go “On Call” for Doordash or Grubhub if they are already out and want to add a delivery that is along their route home.
Why not make a few bucks doing the drive they are about to do anyway?
4) Garage Clean Out
I don’t know what the pollen situation is in your area of the world, but here every single spring has me and everything I own covered in green and yellow dust.
This includes the entire garage and all the stuff that’s in it.
After Winter and Spring have passed, the garage looks like a tornado went through it. To include piles of bugs and cobwebs.
I don’t want to deal with that. Why not let a neighborhood kid do it for me?!
I would pay them great money and I expect nearly every other parent in the neighborhood would as well.
This would be a great service to offer twice a year or even every other month. If your teen offered this service they could make upwards of a $500 per house per year.
IF they could get just 4 homes to clean out garages for they could make $2K relatively easily.
5) Pet Sitting
When it comes to pet sitting, a lot of time the pet owner wants house sitting to go along with it. This job may be more appropriate for a teen that is older. Like a 17 -19 year old.
They would definitely need to be responsible and respectful of other people’s property and understand the importance of the job.
It makes a wonderful job to teach independence and management and could make some serious cash.
Legitimate Summer Neighborhood Jobs for Kids Under 10
Children in the single digits age group can make money as well with either an inside or outside summer job.
It can be especially useful to have a group of kids or friends around the neighborhood to make the projects go faster or be easier.
The gardening jobs, mother’s helper playmates and toy cleaning services are all great ways for kids to group together for a summer money making plan.
6) General Gardening Tasks/ Planting Flowers
Every spring and summer, one of my sister’s neighbors hires a group of little kids to do all of the weeding, flower planting and general yard maintenance for his home. It gives the kids some extra cash and something to do as a group as well as keeps his yard nice and tidy.
A $100 per month split 4 ways is like winning the lottery to a 9 year old.
7) Mother’s Helper
One of the best inside jobs for a child under 10 to earn extra money is to have your kid think about being a Mother’s “extra set of hands”. A new mom would love to have someone that could make bottles, put away dishes, gather trash or fold laundry.
An older kid would even make the perfect playmate for a toddler. It isn’t really babysitting, but it does keep young children entertained which is a HUGE help to a mom that needs a few moments to simply eat a meal in peace or watch a tv show.
A mother’s helper can make around $3- $4 per hour to play with a little one. Talk about a win win. Playtime and Money!
8) Dog Walking
If you have a kid of any age that you trust to walk a dog, they may want to offer their services for neighbors who are going on vacation or want someone to exercise their animals during the day.
This can go for many types of animals. I’ve seen cats, rabbits, even turtles walked on leashes before.
Sometimes people just want someone to come by and play with their animals for a little bit while they’re at work. Running around a backyard or throwing a ball or frisbee around is right up the alley for almost all kids. And it gets them to exercise while making money.
Summer Projects to do While School is Out
If you think about all of the holidays that happen during and around summer vacation, your kid can have a part time job being the neighborhood set up crew.
Kids can easily decorate a porch or yard for Memorial Day, Independence Day, Veterans Day, High School Graduation, a family reunion, block parties, birthday parties, etc…
9) Set Up and Break Down Decor
Really you can do this for any occasion. Who wants to set up tables and chairs and clean up after a party? Why not have your kid get paid to do it?
This is a great way to get extra money in the pocket for a kid of any age. The older teens can supervise and learn how to manage an operation and the younger ones can learn how to work in a team.
Having a summer job when there’s nothing else to do is a great way to kill time during the break as well as get some cash in the bank before school starts back.
If you have a child that absolutely loves to craft, you can turn that into a great decorations business. A nice summer wreath for a door or wall is always a hot seller. And parents everywhere need decorations for children’s birthday parties.
I saw a cute idea not too long ago for children to turn leaves and flowers into biodegradable confetti by simply using a hole puncher to cut out the shapes.
That’s basically free supplies!!
10) Decluttering
What mom on this planet doesn’t want help keeping things straight?!
It’s an amazing thing to behold… but your kids will clean and declutter another persons house better than they could ever do their own.
Who knows why. It’s a mystery of the universe. But it’s true and it’s a very lucrative way for them to make some extra summer cash.
The age of the child on this one is less important than the personality and skill they have. My oldest daughter would hate this kind of job but my middle child absolutely can’t get enough of it. Even as a 9-year-old, she was the most organizational friendly one of the bunch. So I would not recommend it to my teen, but the younger one I would in a heart beat.
The BEST Summer Job Idea (Saved for Last!)
One way that nearly any teen ages 13-18 can make money while they are on summer break is to tutor.
11) Tutoring
Tutoring is simple, necessary and parents would fight for the chance to have their younger children get specialized instruction without having to drive them to a tutoring center.
Teens can offer at-home tutoring special to neighbors to make some serious money.
They could offer 1 hour a week for a monthly rate of $150. That’s around $30-$40 per hour a week depending on how many weeks are in the month.
If they had just 4 kids to tutor, they would make $600 per month for only 4 hour of work per week!
Other Ways to Put Money in Your Pocket
As you can see, there are tons of ways your kids could make legit money within their skillset.
You might not make $10,000, but $500 or $1,000 and perhaps up to $2,000 is a very reasonable goal for a three-month school break with a lot of hard work.
With a little creativity they can be entrepreneurs in no time!
I have a growing collection of blog posts on the topic of kids earning money. You can find links to those below!
- 10 Easy Things to Make and Sell at School Market Day – My daughters have participated in a local kids craft fair each year for many years (they can do it until they’re 14 years old), and they always earn at least $200 in profit after expenses with simple business models. Last year, they made three hundred dollars in profit at the one day event.
- 17 Profitable Crafts Kids Can Sell
- Host a Summer Bake Sale – make some colorful & delicious treats, set up in a highly trafficked location, and rake in the profits!
- 7 Ways to Make an Extra $500 – $1000 per Month (not just for kids, but how moms can make up to $1,000 per month online)
- 15 Items from Around the House You Can Sell for Fast Cash ($50, $100, or even $200 today)
Come check me out over at my blog www.lazygeniusmom.com
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