What expenses do kids have these days? They have so many opportunities open to them. How do they pay for it all? They get creative and work hard.

Over the last month some of the local kids, who live in Coal Creek Canyon, have found ways to earn money for their various events. These kids made or acquired something of value and marketed their findings. Three of the most recent that I have seen were sales of; butter braids, Christmas trees, and fire-starters.

The butter braids were sold by a pair of siblings, Emma and Cooper Moat. They advertised in their schools, neighborhood and through Facebook in order to sell the soft pastries for $15 each. I was told that cinnamon pastries is the Moat household favorite, but there are also flavors of: cherry, caramel rolls, blueberry cream cheese, chocolate and cream and apple. The next time this family will be out selling their sweet, mouth watering pastries, is in the month of March. So, keep your eye out for the Moats in March!

Avery Lawson created a profitable endeavor selling Christmas trees at the Kwik Mart, just across from the coffee shop. The middle schooler cut down the Christmas trees and sold them to her neighbors, friends, and other members of the community. The young marketer sold the Christmas trees for $40 and up, according to their sizes. Avery was raising money in order to participate in a class trip to Washington D.C., with her class at the Coal Creek Canyon K-8 school.

Finally, Soren Marschke and his grandpa came up with an idea to make and sell fire-starters in order to raise money for TeenPact. They researched various recipes for homemade fire-starters and experimented on the recipes they found. The fire-starters were advertised on Facebook and sold within the Peak to Peak community. These helpful items were sold for $5 a dozen. The purchasers were appreciative, especially considering the cold snap we have endured lately.

These students decided to take paying for their pricey personal events into their own hands. They built opportunities to raise the money for their events by following through with their creativity, ideas, and where their research led them. After creating, acquiring, or building their merchandise, they marketed the products in various ways and had a taste of being a kid entrepreneur.

Thank you to all the members of our community who were willing to take a chance and invest in these budding young business men and women. Your support by entertaining the entrepreneurial spirit is part of what helps them learn, grow, and thrive.