Jobs For 10-Year-Olds To Make Money: Is This Even Legal?


jobs for 10 year olds

As your 10-year-old is about to enter their pre-teens, you want them to understand the importance of essential life skills like time management, hard work, and independence.

What better way to instill these principles than an age-appropriate job for your 10-year-old? There is no age limit on learning skills that are going to help your child better understand the importance of responsibility and hard work. So, you’re planning on getting your child an age-appropriate job, but not sure which one suits this age best. You’re worried if this is even legal or not? Well, we’ve got you covered!

There are numerous simple jobs available for 10-year-olds, like working a lemonade stand, pet sitting, dog walking, or bake sales. Many age-appropriate jobs for 10-year-olds are a great way to teach kids about finance and time management. Now that we understand why a 10-year-old should have a job, we can get started on listing jobs for 10-year-olds to make money.

Is 10 Years Old Appropriate Age To Do A Job?

Having a Job will help your 10-year-old better understand the concept of financial management as they will earn and spend their own money on things they want, be it junk food or toys. Having a job will also help them be independent and responsible.

While 10 years old cannot be expected to be fully independent, it is still a good idea for the caretaker to help younger kids foster an understanding of money management and cultivate the trend of a hard-working attitude through a job early on. This might end up helping them become more hardworking, independent, and successful adults in the future!

What Are The Types Of Jobs To 10 Years Olds Can Get?

Not all jobs are appropriate for 10-year-olds, as they do not help in fostering essential life skills in your child or are illegal according to child labor laws. If your 10-year-old wants a job away from their house or wants to work online from their house, jobs are available to cater to their specific needs.

Paper Route

Having a paper route is a great summer job for 10-year-olds, as it not only helps them make their own money but also instills the idea of responsibility, as they will have to wake up early morning to get those papers delivered!

So, if your 10-year-old does not mind waking up early and riding a bicycle, delivering papers might be a great job for them.

Plant Sitting

Plant sitting is one of the best jobs for 10-year-olds, as it does not require that much care compared to pet sitting. Whether it’s your neighbor leaving for a trip or a friend visiting family for the weekend, they can entrust your 10-year-old with their small plants.

All your child has to do is make sure that the plant gets enough sunlight and water it regularly. It is such an easy job that your 10-year-old can even take care of multiple plants simultaneously.

Lemonade Stand

A lemonade stand might seem a bit old-fashioned but is still a very good way for your 10-year-old to make money and learn valuable lessons about entrepreneurship like owning a small business.

Your 10-year-old will also learn about advertising by making posters about the lemonade stand and putting them up on the street or telling people about it on social media accounts.

Senior Buddy

Your 10-year-old can also make more money by helping local seniors. Keeping them company as well as doing some house chores like sweeping the floor and washing dishes might be a good way to serve the community and earn money. This way, your child learns about the value of taking care of seniors and helping them out.

Painting Services

If your 10-year-old loves painting, how about letting them offer their services to other people? Your 10-year-old can let people hire them for face-painting services at birthday parties or sell their paintings for a profit.

This is one of the best jobs for 10-year-olds, as it will help them earn extra money doing something they love.

Animal Shelter

Is your 10-year-old great at taking care of animals? If so, how about letting them volunteer at the local animal shelter as this will help them better understand the responsibility of taking care of another living being? Moreover, this will surely look good on your child’s portfolio.

Video Game Tester

All 10-year-olds love playing video games, so how about letting them earn money doing something they love? Video game developers will pay top dollar for kids to play their video games to point out the different problems that the gameplay might have, like errors and glitches.

Garage Sales

If your 10-year-old has a huge number of toys or clothes, reselling them in a garage sale may be a great first job, as it will help them earn some extra pocket money and teach them some important skills like bargaining and reselling. It can also help them get rid of some old toys or T-shirts.

Selling T-Shirts

Is your 10-year-old creative? How about helping them design and sell T-shirts online? This will not only help them develop skills on how to operate an online business but also earn money online.

This is one of the best online jobs your 10-year-old can have; there are many websites that can help your 10-year-old set up an online shop to sell different types of clothes.

Can A 10-Year-Old Find A Job?

Can A 10-Year-Old Find A Job?

Yes, any 10-year-old can find a job, as there are many physical and online jobs available for them. Keep in mind that the job idea for the 10-year-old should be related to something they enjoy and are good at doing; otherwise, they will not be as involved in the job and might end up getting bored and not learning anything.

Should I Let My 10-Year-Old Do A Job?

Yes, you should let your 10-year-old have a job; it is never too early to start learning real-world skills that will go a long way in helping them as adults. Your 10-year-old getting a job will help them understand the inner workings of the real world as well as important skills. It also teaches them about personal finance and financial rewards from hard work and helps them understand the process of starting their own small business.

Is It Legal?

Under the FLSA (Fair Labor Standards Act), children below the minimum age of 14 cannot be legally employed to do traditional jobs like working at restaurants, offices, or retail jobs, but there are some other ways they can legally start making money.

For example, the FLSA doesn’t say anything about younger children starting their own businesses. They can also legally earn extra money as freelancers and contractors, as under many ordinances and statutes they are not considered employees.

Your 10-year-old is also legally allowed to do simple jobs like dog walking, participating in a family business, operating a lemonade stand, working on a paper route, etc.

Jobs For 10-Year-Olds Around The House

If you think it is still a bit early for your 10-year-old to have a job away from the house, you don’t need to worry because there are many odd jobs for 10-year-olds that can be done by helping around the house.

In-house jobs for 10-year-olds, help in providing a safe environment for the 10-year-old but sure have some drawbacks. Your 10-year-old might not be able to experience independence and may grow bored of the job relatively quick.

Cleaning

Having a child help clean around the house and paying them for it is a great idea for a job for 10-year-olds, as it not only helps them earn extra money but also helps the parent.

You can have your ten-year-old clean the closets, refrigerator, and furniture or help in dusting around the house and washing your car.

Pet Sitting

If your 10-year-old is responsible and good at taking care of your pet, pet sitting may be the perfect job for them since you can pay them to be responsible for cleaning up after it, feeding it, and giving it baths.

And after you are comfortable with your ten-year-old working in another person’s house, you can also have them take care of other people’s pets.

This is a very good first job for 10-year-olds because it is not very hard but also teaches responsibility.

Gardening

Does your 10-year-old have a green thumb? If they do, then gardening might be a great job idea as it is very rewarding and help teach 10-year-olds about plant life.

Your 10-year-old can grow veggies in their own personal garden and sell them at the local farmer’s market as well as help start a community garden for the neighborhood. They can earn additional money by racking leaves, pulling weeds, and planting seeds.

Organizing Clutter

If it is easy for the house to get messy due to your hectic life, and you cannot clean up the clutter made up throughout the day, then this might be a good option for you.

If cleaning up the mess might seem too time consuming, how about paying your 10-year-old to do it?

This will teach your kid how to organize as well as help you clean up around the house meaning you could kill two birds with one stone.

Preparing Meals

10 years is a great age for your kids to learn how to prepare meals, as this will help them learn the basics of cooking like making a sandwich, baking cupcakes, or making soup. After you’ve seen that your 10-year-old is getting better at culinary art, you can start paying them to make their own meals for school instead of buying them.

This is one of the best jobs for 10-year-olds because it will not only teach them about saving money but also opens up a whole future career path for them.

Starting a YouTube Channel

Starting a YouTube channel may be a great online job for your ten-year-old, as it helps develop their creative thinking using an online platform and teaches them valuable skills like managing social media accounts, video editing, and marketing.

It is also a very simple job for your 10-year-old and can be done from home.

Final Thoughts

There are limitless suitable jobs available for young kids to start learning skills at an early age, so why give up this amazing opportunity that will help your 10-year-old develop their creative thinking?

As a parent, it is your responsibility to make sure that your child is ready to face the world by the time they are in their teens, so it is always a good idea for them to get a job early, but keep in mind that it should be an easy and fun job as 10-year-olds can easily get bored.

Gardening, pet keeping, plant keeping, or cleaning around the house are some job opportunities for your 10-year-old to gain essential life skills, such as independence and responsibility.

Stephanie Edenburgh

I'm Steph, a mom to 3 beautiful children and lover all things having to do with my family and being a mom. I've learned a lot raising my own children and working in education and healthcare roles throughout my career. Living in beautiful Southern California I enjoy documenting and writing about all of the hard work us mom's do on a daily basis.

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