2019-2020 was an exercise in teaching our elementary school-aged children personal finance, driving independence, and encouraging them to make constrained resource decisions.
In early August, the family took a trip to Nana’s mountain house. She's all about native plant propagation and her yard is a study of the local flora. As a master naturalist for the Wintergreen foundation, the intrusion of stilt grass aggravated Nana. It somehow made its way from China and was taking over the mountain’s natural vegetation.
Nana offered the children the opportunity to earn money by helping her remove this unwanted invasion. The four of them spent about 30 minutes pulling the offensive grass out, earning $10 each for their efforts. They knew they would be taxed: half was to go into their spending and half into saving. Little Man (8) decided he wanted it all to go into his savings, even though he knew that once it went into the savings account, it could not come back.
The children don’t normally engage in manual labor, and seldom choose to help me in the garden. When Nana asked them to help and they agreed, my heart did a big ol' happy dance. My interview results afterward were amusing.
Baby Girl (9) said, "It was hard work, because you had to pick a thousand million weeds. But because they came loose easily from the ground, the thirty minutes really only felt like five.”
Little Man (8) told me, “the work was really easy. It was hard to work around the other plants, and I got pricklied through the back of my gloves. It kind of hurt, but Papa pulled the prickers out. I’d do it again if Nana wanted to hire me again. When I saw all the bags of grass, I was really proud of myself for collecting all of them.”
Wee One (6) was the most enthusiastic. “It was OK. I mean I just loved it! It was really great because I got money. I thanked Nana because she gave us the choice for picking weeds.”
There are all kinds of creative ways to help family and neighbors with yard maintenance.
The boy across the street mows lawns.
Another neighbor posted an online request for a teen who could dig a hole for her.
In 2018, our kids sold their services picking up acorns from yards, which they later fed to the pigs up the road.
As a kid, I used to sprout seeds and transplant strawberry plant runners, then sell them to neighbors from my little red wagon. As a matter of fact, we have tomato plants sprouting on the dining room table right now, some of which will go into our garden and some of which will be given or sold away. The ideas are endless.
We want the kids to see financial opportunities everywhere.
The most interesting side hustles are born out of creativity (and sometimes boredom).
Yards and gardens have a ton of opportunities for creative income generation, and there is never a shortage of weeding or pruning to be done. Furthermore, every minute playing in the dirt is a minute away from screens - a big plus in my book. Yes, they will get dirty... But isn't this a rite of childhood?
Finances aside, I want the kids to engage with the earth and to find pleasure in nature. If they can do both – I will be one happy mama. What do you do to engage your children in the natural ecosystem and cycle of life? Please share your ideas and comments below.
Stephanie Brooke Lennon is the author of Family Bank Blueprint, GoldQuest, and What Would Water Do? Simple Strategies for Navigating Life's Obstacles. Her titles are available in Paperback and Kindle on Amazon.com. Follow Stephanie Brooke on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Twitter, Amazon, and at BrookeLennon.com.