When kids mean business
Our program teaches young people how to launch their own businesses.
It aligns with Years 6 and 7 of the Australian Curriculum in the areas of HaSS (Business & Economics), Mathematics (Financial Maths) and General Capabilities (Critical and Creative Thinking). This allows schools to choose whether to run the course in the classroom, or as an academic extension or extra-curricular activity.
We also run the program in homes. This is popular with homeschoolers, community groups and families that value enterprise education.
We help your young people become ‘kidpreneurs‘. In the process, they:
- Learn essential life skills like money management, time management, team work and sales,
- Build confidence in their capabilities, and
- Astound their teachers and parents with their creativity and enthusiasm!
Research shows that enterprise skills are the most effective accelerator for getting young people into full-time work (from Foundation for Young Australians), and that a hands-on experience is the best way to learn these skills (from OECD).
We’ve designed our course accordingly.
Being a ‘kidpreneur’ is a common theme among some of the world’s most famous business people such as Warren Buffett, Richard Branson and Melanie Perkins. We like to think our kidpreneurs, such as Ash of Beauty from Ash’s Products, are the Buffetts, Bransons and Perkins of the future.
Maker Kids Club helps young people feel empowered to say:
‘We’re not worried about the jobs of the future. We’re ready to meet any challenge, and we mean business.’
For Schools
Panicking about pandemic-induced distance education?
We’ve got you covered:
For Families
Nervous about home-based learning?
Here’s the perfect project opportunity:
How does it work?
In schools, in Year 6 and 7 classrooms:
- Teachers run Maker Kids Club in their classrooms (one hour per week for 14 weeks).
- Our program makes life easy for teachers. With no preparation or professional development needed, teachers focus on delivery. Detailed lesson plans showing curriculum connections are included (example).
What’s it like for the kids?
We’ve worked with dozens of young business owners privately and in school settings. Meet some of our kidpreneurs in the videos below as they explain their businesses and share their advice for fellow kidpreneurs.
Gabe, 11 years old
Gabe wrote and launched a song on iTunes. He made extra money at the Riverton Primary School launch market by busking.
Sienna, 11 years old
Sienna created a slime business, taking $87 of orders from one single sample – an excellent example of how to manage cash flow for a fledgling business.
Emma, 7 years old
Emma’s Soda Stand sells homemade lemonade made in her parents’ commercial kitchen. She started the business when she was six using a converted sewing table and an abundance of lemons in her backyard.
Stella, 10 years old
Stella recently went through a rough patch. She found that reading affirmations helped improve her mood and outlook. Stella wanted to help other kids in a similar situation, so she created Little Bursts of Happiness. Stella now sells online, at markets, and in a store in Fremantle.
What’s it like for the parents?
Just like any extra-curricular activity, parents are involved in their child’s entrepreneurial journey. Fortunately, they seem to love it! We often hear that the process brings families closer together. It’s wonderful to see the pride in our Maker Kids Club parents’ eyes.
Kat, Ash’s Mum
Ash is the eldest of Kat’s four children. In this video, Kat talks about what it’s like to have a kidpreneur in the family.
(PS. She now has three kidpreneurs!)
Parent Compilation
In this video, you’ll meet four of our kidpreneur parents:
Mel, Stella’s mum.
Nicky, Ben and Holly’s mum.
Tennille, Emma’s mum.
Scott, Riley and Georgia’s dad.
Interested in private enrolment?
Download our free eBooks today!
We’ve written two awesome free eBooks that you can share with a young person in your life today:
- Inspiration for Maker Kids: stories of kidpreneurs and 33 business ideas to jump-start their launch.
- 10 Steps to Market Success: we share all the lessons we’ve learned that make your physical market experiences as productive and happy as possible.