Kids are inherently entrepreneurial.
I mean, I don’t know about your kids, but whenever I’m around one (including my own), they point out problems, they focus on one or two that really bugs them, and then they start coming up with all kinds of solutions for it.
Some of those solutions are downright comical, and some make you take a second look.
Not to mention, they love to earn money and feel like they can earn money from anything!
I just love their enthusiasm.
So, how do you encourage entrepreneurship in kids and teens? Let me share with you the youth entrepreneurship programs, high school entrepreneurship competitions, and curriculum that will help you nurture that inner entrepreneur in your kids.
Pssst: Be sure to check out my reviews of kid entrepreneur kits, kid business books, the Teen Entrepreneur Toolbox, and business books for kids as well! They could make a great addition to the curriculum and competitions below.
Who It’s For: 2-4 High School Students + a Teacher
Financial Aid : N/A
Length of Program : 5-step competition, with a submission round, pitch round, semi-final round, top 18 picks, and Final round
Prizes: 1st Place ($13,000), 2nd Place ($9,000), and 3rd Place ($5,500)
The Horn Entrepreneurship at the University of Delaware holds a competition open to student teams comprised of 2 to 4 high school students and one teacher. The two competition tracks are:
Who It’s For: High School Students
Financial Aid : N/A
Length of Program : Challenge and mystery item announced in Fall; winners chosen the following year
Prizes: Yes…but doesn't say what they are
Are your students or kids ready to take the challenge of innovating their way to a totally different way to use a commonplace, everyday item? They'll need to pitch their idea in a 3-minute video.
Who It’s For: High School Students
Financial Aid : N/A
Length of Program : On year
Prizes: Receive one year of mentorship and up to $30,000 in start-up funding
Students will use this company's free online tools to create a pitch for your company
Psst: not ready for a full-on entrepreneur competition? Try holding a market day in your class. Here are 22 things for kids to make and sell, 17 boy crafts to sell, and help pricing their products in this market day lesson plan. Also, here's 3 kid business plan examples.
Who It’s For : 2-4 High School Students + a Teacher
Financial Aid : Fee Varies by Location
Length of Program : 1-Day Business Fair
Location: 30+ locations around the world
Kids ages 5-15 can participate in this one-day program, selling the goods and services they've created. The poster child for this event is a little four year old girl, who, eight years ago at an Acton Children's Business Fair, sold her Me and the Bees Lemonade (now sold at Whole Foods)!
She also received an investment from Shark Tank.
Who It’s For : 4-5-year-olds, all the way up to high school
Financial Aid : N/A
Length of Program : 1-Day Event
Location : 60+ locations around the world
Founded by Michael Holthouse, Lemonade Day is a one-day event meant to expose children in K-5th grades to entrepreneurship. The nice thing about this event is that kids don't have to create their own business; they simply create a business plan, set a budget, financial goals, expenses, etc. for running a lemonade stand for one day.
Who It’s For : 11-18 years
Financial Aid : Free
Length of Program : Varies
A former Bronx teacher, Steve Mariotti learned that many street-smart kids at risk of dropping out had skills that translated well to an entrepreneurial mindset. So, he created this program that includes camps, high school classes, and summer programs.
Business leaders and entrepreneurs volunteer to talk to students, and the program is all about teaching entrepreneurship through kids taking a business concept and finessing it.
There are various programs, such as:
Who It’s For : 6th-12th grades
Financial Aid : $20 application fee + estimated $350 program fee
Length of Program : 1 year
Over the course of a year, students learn how to generate business ideas, create a business plan, conduct market research, pitch to a panel of investors, and launch their own company. This organization has helped over 7,000 students launch over 5,100 businesses.
One alum of the program has had over $1 million in sales!
Kids also can compete for the Saunders Scholarship and business start-up prize money.
Who It’s For : High school-aged kids
Financial Aid : $8,500 (includes room & board); financial aid is available
Length of Program : 4 weeks
Location : Babson College, Babson MA
Babson College offers a summer study specifically for high school students, which earns them 4 college credits. Students will learn about market trends, business & human rights, and learning how to reframe failure. Entrepreneurs come to speak, and the students also take trips to nearby Boston to tour local companies.
There’s a final pitch each student will make for the business they’ve developed.
Who It’s For : Students who finished 9th grade, up to recently graduated high school
Financial Aid : Between $7,495 and $7,995 (Financial, need-based, aid available)
Length of Program : 4 weeks
Location : University of Michigan, Northwestern University, and MIT
In this four-week experience, students work in a cohort with industry experts to solve real-world problems with products they conceive and build. This program is very selective and has an average of 18% acceptance rate.
FYI: No college credit is given.
Who It’s For : High School Students
Financial Aid : N/A
Length of Program : 12 weeks, 6 hours/week (Youth Tech Clinics) and 6 weeks, 6 hours/week (Youth Entrepreneurship Clinics)
Location : Variety of locations (concentrated in Nebraska)
This relatively short program seeks to tap into youth’s passion and creativity to find solutions to local businesses' tech and marketing problems. For example, one group of youth in Nebraska helped a farmer who offered organic, grass-fed beef a marketing plan to reach millennials .
Who It’s For : Kids and teens
Financial Aid : Free (Part of a Charter School)
Length of Program : K-12
Location : Remote
Crockett Early College High School’s pilot program has been active for two years, with 4 different schools and 800 students having participated in it. It’s the first program to introduce, practice, and evolve entrepreneurial skills starting in Kindergarten and going all the way up to 12th grade.
In just the first two years of the program, 4 different student ventures created from this program earned $9K for their ideas!
Who It’s For : Students
Financial Aid : N/A
Length of Program : N/A
There is such a wealth of information and curriculum resources from Wharton on this page. Like Bake Sale lessons in marketing, and creating a business plan, and Global Market information.
Who It’s For : Kids and teens
Financial Aid : Free
Length of Program : 14 modules
This is a video business curriculum program that kids, teens, and students can go through. It includes instructional guides to each business module, and covers the following information:
They also offer a Social Curriculum track that’s 6 video modules long, including:
Who It’s For : 10th and 12th graders
Financial Aid : Free (at schools where it’s available)
Length of Program : 1 year (followed by acceleratoredu for the 2nd year)
Uncharted Learning’s program is designed for 10th to 12th graders to develop their own businesses , pitch their ideas at a shark-tank-style event, and hopefully receive funding. A second-year program, acceleratoredu, helps students take their business from start-up to launch.
Who It’s For : 10th and 12th graders
Financial Aid : $2,525 (but students leave the program with 6 college credits). Financial aid is available, and 30% of students receive it. WIT hackathons cost $99 per event.
Length of Program : 9 months (extracurricular program) – Twice/month for 2 hours at a time (6:00-8:00 p.m.)
Location: In Schools in San Diego, New York, Austin, and St. Louis
Students learn business & entrepreneurial skills as well as public speaking, active listening, and time management. Students can also participate in one-day hackathons, which are an 8-hour event that allows teens to create a solution for a problem in their city and learn how to implement that solution.
Students who participate in WIT will leave the program with six college credits from UCSD.
Who It’s For : Grades 9-12
Financial Aid : Free for students
Length of Program : 7, 45-minute sessions
Location : Anywhere
This is Junior Achievement’s Entrepreneurial program for high school students, run through schools. The course will teach students how to create a business plan and then will help them start an entrepreneurial venture.
Lessons covered include:
Who It’s For : Grades 9-12
Financial Aid : Free for students
Length of Program : 13 classes (2 hours/class), or as a 1-year program with 26 classes (1 hour/class)
Location : Anywhere (online course)
This program is delivered online to high school students and seeks to teach them how to solve a problem or fill a need in their community through an entrepreneurial spirit. The program can be offered in school or after school.
There’s a national competition involved with this (if the area JA office has signed up for it).
Who It’s For : Grades 1-12
Financial Aid : ( Free for non-commercial use ) Curriculum that organizations can purchase to use with students
Length of Program : 90-minute lessons
Location : N/A
Venture Lab offers a curriculum suited for 1st – 12th graders (the curriculum is divided into lower elementary, upper elementary, and middle school/high school.) This is a course in a box with all of the lesson plans already completed and is meant to be utilized as part of regular coursework, after-school programs, or camps.
Its focus is on teaching girls other components of entrepreneurship such as STEAM concepts and design thinking.
Who It’s For : 10-18 years
Financial Aid : $5,000 (for the entire program); 80% of students receive financial aid
Length of Program : 90-minute lessons
Location : Tennessee, New York, Illinois, Georgia, Texas
This program has multiple components such as summer camps, the Wall Street Conference, and a year-round Youth About Business Leadership Development Program. The entrepreneurial program is developed for youth ages 10 to 18. Students can also go on to business camps (once they have completed at least one year of high school.) The one-week business camp culminates in a one-week trip to Wall Street. Students can also join the year-round Youth About Business Leadership Development Program where they develop leadership skills and learn more about businesses.
Who It's For: Doesn't say, but I think it's for high school.
Length of Program: 11 Lessons
Location: Online, printable, free for everyone
This is a free lesson plan (11 lessons in total, with a lengthy, 113-page instruction guidebook) in entrepreneurship for students. Also includes editable slides and lines up with Voluntary National Economics Standards and National Financial Literacy Standards.
Who It's For: K-12
Financial Aid: Free for everyone
Length of Program: 5-16 days
Location: Remote
Here is a free program laid out by age in either a 5-day or a 16-day journey.
Who It’s For : Grades 1-12
Financial Aid : ( Free for non-commercial use ) Curriculum that organizations can purchase to use with students
Length of Program : 90-minute lessons
Location : N/A
Venture Lab offers a curriculum suited for 1st – 12th graders (the curriculum is divided into lower elementary, upper elementary, and middle school/high school.) This is a course in a box with all of the lesson plans already completed and is meant to be utilized as part of regular coursework, after-school programs, or camps.
Its focus is on teaching girls other components of entrepreneurship such as STEAM concepts and design thinking.
Amanda L. Grossman is a writer and Certified Financial Education Instructor (CFEI®), a 2017 Plutus Foundation Grant Recipient, and founder of Money Prodigy. Her money work has been featured on Experian, GoBankingRates, PT Money, CA.gov, Rockstar Finance, the Houston Chronicle, and Colonial Life. Amanda is the founder and CEO of Frugal Confessions, LLC. Read more here or on LinkedIn.
