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The Factory Tour Entrepreneur Project (Free Printable)

How do you turn a fun, old-fashioned factory tour into a serious business and entrepreneur learning lesson for your child? Use these free printables.

Cue music in my head: “Toot, Sweets! Toot, Sweets! The candies you whistle, the whistles you eat.”

cartoon factory building, text overlay "The Factory Tour business lesson for kids & teens, free printables"

Factories like the one in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang happen to be great pit stops on road trips or summer activities with your child because:

  • they're free
  • you learn a ton
  • you usually get a free sample at the end (if it’s a food factory)

And now, we’re going to introduce another great reason to take your kid, tween, or teen to a factory: to help teach them about business and entrepreneurship.

The Factory Tour Entrepreneur Project

Who remembers a particularly fun and interesting factory tour they got to go on as a tween or teen?

I do!

And I got to thinking about how to expand this interesting activity into one that’s also ridiculously educational.

I mean, just think of all the business, entrepreneur, and career lessons your child can learn when they dig into a company a bit more.

Here’s what to do:

Step #1: Choose a Factory to Tour (In-person or Online)

There are three different ways you can tour a factory: in person, by watching a video, and virtually where you are in control of moving through spaces online.

Hint: if you choose the video or virtual tour options, your child will likely need to do more research at home to answer the factory tour questions.

Video Factory Tours:

Virtual Factory Tours:

In-Person Factory Tours:

Step #2: Research Parts of the Company

We want to give your child’s upcoming factory tour a lot more context by learning about the business and its products a bit before they go.

Hint: sampling the products during this stage can be a fun activity!

Download and print out the Factory Tour Experience set of printables.

Set aside 30 minutes to an hour sometime before the factory tour, and have your child fill out the questions on the Factory Tour: Prep worksheet.

Questions include things like:

  • What does this company sell? How much does one product cost?
  • What other companies sell this type of product (their competitors)?
  • Where have you seen these products for sale?
  • What is the company’s mission statement?
  • Etc.

Hint: you’ll find help and hints to guide them on the Parent’s Worksheet version in the free printable.

Step #3: Go On the Factory Tour

You’ll go on the actual factory tour, or do the virtual one.

Hint: before you go on the tour? Ask your child what their questions are (because they might have a chance to ask them)!

Step #4: Follow-Up with the Factory Tour: After Worksheet

What has your child learned during the tour? What were they most surprised about?

And what do they want to learn more about?

It’s a great idea to talk through what you each experienced, saw, and learned to take away even more from the experience.

Have your child fill out the Factory Tour: After Worksheet.

Oooohhhhh the business and entrepreneurial sparks that'll fly around your child as they work through this! I’d love to hear about your experience in the comments below – I read every single one.

And if they keep asking questions and showing curiosity about business in general?

Check out a few of these other resources:

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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.