Young entrepreneurs in Southwest Washington can showcase their creativity and business skills by featuring their ventures at local markets coming up.
The nonprofit Children’s Entrepreneur Market program offers tables for youth to set up and sell their merchandise at local markets across the county, establishing their businesses. Children aged 5 through 17 operate booths and sell products they bring or create themselves.
Kara Kadow, the program’s local area market manager, helped children set up 20 vendor booths during the April Home & Garden Idea Fair in Ridgefield. Items sold included 3D-printed toys, tie-dye T-shirts, leather-pressed materials and other crafted items.
“You get to see kids really exhibit their creativity. Their self-confidence grows [with] their resilience. It’s just an avenue for them to learn these skills that they’ll carry on into their adult life,” Kadow said.
The program began in 2017 in Utah and now operates in 25 states. Kadow brought the program to Southwest Washington to provide fun activities for local youth. She said the program teaches children important skills including critical thinking, money management and problem-solving.
“What we’ve seen over time is that kids have an unprecedented demand on their attention, especially with … the dominance of this passive consumption of media. Our Children’s Entrepreneur Market provides an outlet that’s family-centered, where kids can really lean in on these projects to learn lifelong skills,” Kadow said.
A child’s first table will cost $25, which is reduced to $20 for future events. Kids are given a T-shirt and will learn the basics of entrepreneurship through the program’s website. Kadow said the program offers around 50 booths for each event.
Children’s Entrepreneur Market's upcoming events are:
• Yacolt Farm Days: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday, June 1, 20902 NE Lucia Falls Road, Yacolt
• La Center Farmers Market: 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., Friday, June 14, at 111 E. Fifth St., La Center
• Woodland Farmers Market: 2 p.m. to 7 p.m., Friday, July 26, 544 Goerig St., Woodland
• Ridgefield Day of Festivals: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 3, Overlook Park, 113-131 S. Main Ave., Ridgefield
• Ridgefield 25th Anniversary BirdFest & Bluegrass: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 5, Overlook Park, 113-131 S Main Ave., Ridgefield
Parents can sign up as volunteers to supervise on the Children’s Entrepreneur Market website. Learn more about the upcoming events at childrensentrepreneurmarket.com/mar kets/?state=WA.
