10 rewarding and fun jobs for 10-year-olds

Hello, double digits! When your child turns 10, they’re officially a preteen. Ten-year-olds have some experience under their belt and a whole bunch of opportunities in front of them. One of those opportunities is to earn some extra cash by doing simple jobs that meet their abilities.

Finding the best jobs for 10-year-olds to do isn’t always easy though. There are state-by-state child labor laws and maturity levels to think about. What might be an easy job for one 10-year-old might be something another is still going to need some extra guidance on. 

In this blog, we’ll take you through some of our best job ideas for your 10-year-old. As we go through them, we encourage you to carefully consider your kids’ interests and abilities to find the right match. And remember, this may take a couple tries and require learning some new skills — especially if this is their first job.

Top 10 jobs for 10-year-olds

Finding something your 10-year-old is interested in is a great way to start looking for an appropriate job. The right job will also match their maturity level, skill, and attention span while being age appropriate in the eyes of the law. With that in mind, here are 10 jobs for your 10-year-old. 

1. Lemonade seller 🍋

Some people are just drawn to entrepreneurship from an early age. If that’s your 10-year-old, running a lemonade stand might just be their perfect job. Starting their own business that is customer-facing can teach young people social skills and money management. They can learn about startup costs and the difference between revenue and profit while spending time outside on sunny days. Don’t forget the sunscreen!

2. Baker 🧁

Similar to a lemonade stand, but with parental oversight in the kitchen, a little more skill, and time management needed, your talented baker might enjoy having a bake sale. This can be done out in the front yard if you have enough traffic, or you can help them find, and accompany them to, a more commercial spot like outside a store or an office. Just make sure you get permission first.

3. Pet sitter 🐱

If you ask your kids their ideas for the best jobs for 10-year-olds, you might hear stuff like video game tester or ice cream scientist. And while it’s hard to beat those, a more accessible job that still ranks highly is watching other people’s pets. 

If some of their home chores already include caring for your family pet, they might be ready to offer their pet-sitting services to your neighbors or family members as a part-time job. Pet sitting could include simple tasks like playing with them, giving them food and water, and taking them outside.

4. Dog walker 🐕

Walking dogs is a great way to earn extra money, but it can be hard work. Unlike pet sitting where you get to care for an animal in a controlled environment, a dog walker needs to be able to keep control of a dog outdoors where things are less predictable. They also might need to be able to stay on a specific route, keep track of time, and make decisions based on changing conditions. 

Dog walking is one of those jobs for kids who display more maturity. Unless the dogs are smaller, your kid’s physical size should also be taken into account. 

If they can handle it though or are willing to have a parent as their assistant, being a dog walker can be very rewarding and fun. It’s also a great way to get outside and exercise after being in class all day. 

5. Junior partner 🏪

Are you or another parent a small business owner? Maybe you run a store, a restaurant, or sell products on Amazon. If you do, there could be all types of jobs for 10-year-olds within your family business. 

Kids could take out the trash, pack some boxes, or greet customers when they walk in the door. They could do some light office work, provide some in-house tech support, price products, or update your website. 

Having your kids help out with the family business is a great way to spend more time with them while they learn valuable skills and earn some pocket money. And don’t worry, they don’t actually need to be made a partner. 

6. Home helper 🏠

If you’ve gotten this far and you’re thinking maybe they aren’t ready for all of this, that’s OK. Doing regular household chores is a great way to help them build skills and confidence. Some great home jobs for 10-year-olds could be setting the table, making their bed, watering plants, or feeding the family pets. 

Greenlight makes it easy to reward doing regular chores with an allowance. You can even let them earn extra money by doing specific jobs around the house and yard. Just set the task, and you can pay them right through the app when it's done. 

7. Paper deliverer 🗞️

It might seem old-fashioned, but a paper route can be a fantastic summer job for 10-year-olds that are mature enough to handle it. Delivering papers can be great exercise and help kids get acquainted with their community. In most states, younger children might only be allowed to deliver the papers, while someone older would handle selling and collecting the money.

8. Yard worker 🌷

Yard work is hard work, but there’s a lot of it to be done. While lawn mowing and landscaping could be a little advanced, plenty of people are willing to pay for smaller jobs. Great jobs for 10-year-olds could be raking leaves, watering plants, picking up dog poop, or pulling weeds. 

In the winter, you might help them shovel driveways or gather firewood. 

9. Influencer 🤳

The internet allows for all kinds of jobs your 10-year-old might be able to do right from your home. For example, kids can earn a few dollars creating content for a YouTube channel. They can make videos of their hobbies, stream video games, or make videos of the family pets and get paid ad revenue when people watch the videos. 

Keep in mind that due to laws preventing websites from collecting data from children, social media platforms don’t allow kids under 13 to have accounts. As the parent, you’ll own the account and be responsible for what gets posted. Also, you’ll want to consider internet safety. 

10. Online store owner 💻

If your preteen is good at design or crafts, there are opportunities for them to create products and sell them online. Most 10-year-olds won’t be ready to independently handle product fulfillment, so you would need to help them with shipping.

Another option is to open an Etsy shop with products that customers print themselves. Your child would only need to create the product once, and then it could be delivered via email — letting your 10-year-old build some passive income.  

Like with YouTube, the account will have to be in your name. Etsy doesn’t allow anyone under 18 to have an account.

Help them sharpen their money skills too

Ten is an exciting age that brings so many amazing opportunities to grow, learn, and even make money. Jobs for 10-year-olds can be fun and give them a sense of accomplishment. It can teach them skills they’ll use through their lives but still be light enough to let them continue being a kid. 

Greenlight gives you the tools to teach your kids money management skills. Through our app they can learn to budget, save, give, and invest their money while you monitor their activity. Chores and allowances are also a breeze with chore lists and payments right through the app. 

Give Greenlight a try and get one month, on us!