Need easy DIY things kids can make and sell at school that are non-food? Super simple ideas kids can use to earn cash and learn business.
So, your child and students are doing a Market Day, and you’re scrambling for easy things kids can make and sell at school.
(…that aren’t food).
Well, you’re in the right place!
Easy Things Kids Can Make and Sell at School
I’ve got 11 fresh, unique, and EASY things kids can make and sell at school.
These are great for classroom market days!
Hint: And when your child is finished picking something from below? They’ll want to check out how to price their Market Day craft, and how to cheaply decorate their stall for more sales on Market Day.
1. Spiral Notebook Palz
Almost every student has at least one spiral notebook for school.
Help them accessorize it and stand out by selling these really simple Spiral Notebook Palz.
Buy lobster clasp keyrings and charms that catch your eye. Put them together, and you’ve got a cute way to decorate a notebook.
2. Board Game Bookmarks
Some of these projects are going to take more help from grown-ups than others, and this is one of them (due to the cutting).
I found Terry’s board game bookmark idea (and asked permission to use it – she said absolutely! Here’s her craft Facebook Page, FYI).
You’ll need:
- Old boardgame (look at your local thrift store’s game section)
- Sharp scissors, or scalpel (Terry says she uses a scroll saw or band saw)
- Ribbon
- Very strong hole puncher (that allows for cardboard-like thickness – I found these work well with the thickness of a board game)
- Pencil to trace
- Outline of a bookmark to trace
To make it, I simply traced a bookmark of mine onto the board with a pencil. Use your sharp tool (grown-ups will need to take over here) to cut the bookmark out.
Punch a hole through the center part of the top of the bookmark.
Tie a ribbon around a game piece, then thread it through the bookmark hole and tie it off.
And that’s it!
I couldn’t wait to make my own from a Clue board game I found at the Goodwill. And I think they turned out great!
3. Reusable Straw Charm
These are color-changing, reusable straws, and I thought it’d be so cool to create little straw charms people can buy and put on their drink cups.
Using adjustable rings with a flat platform, I bought gemstones with at least one flat edge and hot glued one onto the ring.
4. Locker Palz
Look at these cute critters!
Kids will have a lot of fun making them, and they’re magnetic, so kids and tweens who are desperate to express themselves can buy them and decorate their lockers.
You’ll need:
And since you’re using Wikki Stix for the antennae? They can easily twist and turn them to make them look the way they want.
Hint: they can try to sell more than one by telling people to buy a whole family or a group of friends to stick in their lockers or refrigerators.
5. Colorfully Dipped Candles
Grab some plain candles in bulk – either white ones or black ones – as your base.
You’ll also need:
- Candle-Making Wax Pellets
- Wax Dye
- Rack for drying (I got the wheel in the photo from Dollar Tree’s craft section)
- Grown-up help (just sayin’)
You’ll need to melt the wax pellets (according to the instructions) and add the dye color you want.
I did mine in a mason jar glass inside of boiling water (be VERY careful – I’ll bet there’s a safer way to help your child do this).
Then I dipped the long candles into the melted, dyed wax. I did it several times if I wanted the lighter color to show up better.
I think they turned out great! They dry very quickly, too.
Hint: not seeing what you want? Here’s my semi-viral article on 22 simple things for kids to make and sell for Market Day.
6. Motivational or Funny Teen Slang for Desks
You can create a series of fun quotes, slang, or whatever you’d like and frame them.
I found these really cool frames for $1.25 each at the Dollar Tree. I also saw purple glitter paper with an adhesive back, in case you want to replace the white frame inside with the glittery one.
The options are endless!
7. Morse Code Bracelets
This is such a great thing to sell at school other than food!
Grab a bead set that has two different types of beads, like this one (one to represent short “dits”, and the other to represent long “dahs”), and a black cord to the thread (the kit I linked to above comes with 16 meters of stretchy string).
You can type in any word or words you want on this site, and it will translate them into short “dits” and “dahs” for you.
Then, tie a knot on one end of the thread, bead the message in Morse code, and measure it so that you cut it long enough to fit around someone’s wrist.
You’ll want to label each Morse code bracelet with what it says, for easy shopping.
Hint: here’s how to make a sliding knot on the end of your bracelet so that people can adjust it to their wrist size!
8. Crystal Critters
Grow a bunch of crystal “landscapes”. Then let customers pick out both a landscape and a critter to live on it.
You’ll need:
- Small plastic science lab cups (I recommend plastic or these silicone cups so that you can easily pop them out with a very gentle squeeze)
- Critters (like dragons, and sea creatures)
- Monoammonium Phosphate
- Food dye
- Small pebble or something else to seed the crystal
Psst: here are five 3rd grade market day ideas to make and sell.
9. Luggage Tags
I found these Creatology bracelets, and charms with a clasp large enough to go on the bracelet (I found mine at Michael’s – you can find lots of others you can order).
And thought…this could be a set of luggage tags for kids to make and sell!
It’ll definitely help people identify their luggage at the airport baggage claim.
10. Shoe Charms
Did you know you can buy blank shoe charms?
Buy the base, and then buy something with a flat side that you’d like to attach to the top by glue (either super glue or hot glue – with parental help).
I bought these fun mini-erasers from Target (in their party supply aisle), and made some cute shoe charms from them.
11. Gemstone Keyrings
Get some adjustable rings with a flat platform on the top so that you can attach something.
Which got me thinking, that I’d love to create a keyring for keys with a big, beautiful, gemstone on it.
I found these flat-sided gemstones that are part of a necklace – they have tiny holes in them (at Michael’s).
SO, I took apart the necklace and hot-glued it to the top of the ring. Then I attached it to the lobster clasp keyring.
I hope I've shown you how simple it can be for kids to make something for a classroom or school-wide market day. Not only that, but they will learn SO MUCH by doing this! Make sure you go back and help them with pricing, and with display options to increase their sales. And I'd love to hear your results in the comments below.
Amanda L. Grossman
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