The holidays are a great time to reconnect with friends and family and can also be an opportunity for your child to earn money.
Raking leaves- Fall is a beautiful time of the year when temperatures drop, unfortunately so do the leaves. Raking leaves is a great first job and a task that is easily accomplished by children with a little supervision from Mom or Dad. Start by showing your young entrepreneur how to rake leaves in your own yard before venturing off to the neighbors. A plastic leaf rake is recommended for safety and the bags can be placed at the curb for pickup or taken to the city dump, for a fee of course!
Shoveling snow- Shoveling snow can be physically demanding and is a task best suited for older children and teens. The only things your child needs for this job are a shovel and a desire to make some money. Sidewalks can be an option for tweens who are not quite ready to take on shoveling snow from a large driveway. Laying salt on walkways is a nice touch and is guaranteed to make a good impression!
House/Pet sitting- With many families out of town for the holidays, house sitting is a perfect opportunity for tweens & teens to earn some money. This job can lead to repeat business and referrals since many pet owners would prefer to avoid putting the family dog or cat in a kennel. Common tasks associated with this job are retrieving the newspaper and mail, watering houseplants, letting the pet outdoors and of course watering and feeding. Offering to take the family pet for a daily walk can be another opportunity for income.
Gift wrapping- Offering a gift wrapping service is another opportunity for your tween or teen to earn spending money for the holidays. Gift wrapping is a skill that takes practice so Mom or Dad will need to take the time to teach the right way to wrap a gift. If junior has two left thumbs this might not be the best option to make money over the holidays.
Holiday Decorating- Holiday decorating can be a fun family activity but for single homeowners and empty-nesters holiday decorating can be a challenge. Tweens and teens can easily help put up the Christmas Tree decorations and plastic holiday ornaments in the front yard but climbing up a ladder to hang lights on the second story is probably not a good idea.
Tips for your Young Entrepreneur- Help your child create a flyer advertising their Holiday Services and deliver door to door. The earlier you can advertise the better. Don’t over commit to taking on too many jobs until you know how much work you can fit into your weekend schedule. Especially in the beginning, you want to create a reputation for quality work. Repeat business and word of mouth should grow your business for the next season.
What tips do you have for job opportunities for tweens?
Shoveling snow is a good one (well, depending on climate). Many times your children could even assist some of the older members of your neighborhood. Like you said, it’s exhausting work, and it’s better for the younger generations to tackle it!
I remember shoveling driveways for money as a kid. There were three of us shoveling snow and we split the money 3 ways.
I would love to find someone to do a holiday decoration and do pet sitting. But I am such a control freak that I would probably have a lot of issues with someone else doing it at my place. Oh well… if we’d have kids I would definitely use your list to find them something to do.
Extra curriculum activities, you know. 
I think the holiday season’s a great way for kids to practice their entrepreneurial skills (especially since everyone’s in the spending mood).
As a kid I had a paper route and cut grass for money. I think it helped me to appreciate the value of a dollar.
Hi I’m looking for a winter job. I will put up decorations I can’t put up outside house lights though. I’m willing to shovel driveways. I will scrape the snow/ice off of ur car, i will even wrap some presents this isn’t my first job of doing that, I’m 13 years old looking for a job only in granby. Just looking for an easy way to earn money to get some gifts for my family
Hi Mysterious – I would recommend you make some flyers and have a parent drive you around the neighborhood and leave them on doors. Maybe you could offer a discount for neighbors that refer friends! Best of luck!
Hi Paul I can’t go around the neighborhood because my neighborhood is very quite any other ideas for when it starts snowing?