Every year our elementary school hosts a winter craft bazaar featuring all handmade items. Booth space is open to commercial vendors, parents and students, with discounts given to student booth space. The kids at the school all love to drag their parents in to do some shopping. And it is quite a crowd there each year. There are, of course, also yummy treats set out for sale displayed in a way that makes them even more tempting.
One year the kids decided they really wanted to sell something at the event. So, dreading having to do all the work myself, I finally came up with two ideas of things the kids could sell so long as they did most of the work of producing and selling the crafts.
One item sold quite well and the other didn’t. But, in both cases the cost of supplies was minimal. As a money lesson, I sat down with the kids to show how we take the money from sales and first pay mom (me) the cost of supplies and booth fees. That did make them a bit sad.
Then they were able to split the remaining funds. After that, they had smiles on their faces. How much was it? They each got just under $100. So that was almost $200 profit! Selling some inexpensive clay ornaments and clothespin magnets was worth the effort for them. Note: the magnets are what didn’t sell very well. Your results may vary.
