I struggle still a little with this idea of encouraging her to draw pictures to sell on eBay. Who would want to *buy* a crayon drawing done by a 6-year old, even if they are fairly well done for her age? Only their grandparents (who perhaps not coincidentally are the only buyers so far) -- and shouldn't they get them for free?
My original goals were:
- Provide a way for her to earn money (instead of us just giving it to her).
- Give her a little exposure to how businesses are run, i.e. with expenses, profits, etc.*
- Encourage the development of talents.
Selling her crayon drawings on eBay seemed a good solution that met all my goals -- however it still hasn't quite "settled" with me yet. Maybe it's because I know that the pictures have very little inherent value except for what little is incurred through guilt in the relatives, which just doesn't seem like a very solid business plan.
What do you think? Is this a good way for a 6-year old to earn money? How did (do? will?) your 6-year olds make money? I'd love to hear your thoughts, feel free to add comments below.
* As if I knew much about it myself...
1 comment:
Not that I have any parenting expertise or am qualified to answer, but my opinion is that the ebay artwork wouldn't teach her much. In the real world, art isn't generally very lucrative, and with you doing the listings, she isn't required to put forth all that much effort to make her money. I'm all for not giving kids allowances and having chores be required to live in the home, but it would seem that *additional* chores that are not her usual duties could be picked up for nominal pay. Maybe if she would help clean out the cupboards, or sweep the driveway, or pull weeds, she could make a couple of bucks for her effort. Grandma used to pay me $.25 to sweep the driveway, and I think it was a good opportunity to work for a little money.
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