Young minds with BIG ideas
That’s a great idea.
Who doesn’t love to hear those words? Of course, not all can be stamped with a multimillion-dollar seal of success, but simply giving kids the opportunity to explore ideas, test them, tweak them and see them through seems to do a tremendous amount to help embolden budding, young entrepreneurs.
Last year, a study of 330 schools in Ireland found that 87 per cent of teachers saw an increase in confidence in children participating in a junior entrepreneurship program, according to a report in Business and Leadership.
And about two-thirds of the teachers reported that participating in the program improved children’s communication skills and their ability to work with a team.
This could be the reason why parents are so keen on camps that are rooted in entrepreneurship and why many camp programming providers are happy to accommodate them.
SAIT’s Next Great Entrepreneur junior camp is for students in grades 4 to 6.
“It’s a great way for kids to take ideas, develop them and then really see how they perform in the market,” says Rozlynn Wick, strategic youth initiatives co-ordinator at SAIT. “Whether it’s a desktop terrarium or bird house or duct tape wallet, the kids take the product through to the final (stage) and then they have the opportunity to market it and sell it on campus.”
While she says some campers require a little redirection to help them modify impractical grandiose ideas, such as manufacturing lawn chairs, she says it’s all part of the process.
Any profits made are donated to a local charity chosen by the campers.
SAIT’s Venture Adventure camp takes a more in-depth approach to entrepreneurship for grades 9 to 12 and focuses on conquering the obstacles entrepreneurs can encounter, setting up participants with financial experts as their mentors and business partners.
There is also a girls-only entrepreneurship camp for grades 4 to 6students.
MRUKids hosts a young entrepreneurs camp in July, as well, where Mount Royal University instructors guide participants aged 14 to 17, through creating a brand, developing a business plan and implementing a marketing strategy.
The students not only test out their product or service in the real world by selling it on campus, but also present their ideas to a panel of business experts for some Dragons’ Den- style feedback and one venture is declared the victor.
“While this is our first year with this particular camp, I’ve been involved in these types of camps in the past and it is always fascinating to see what the kids come up with,” says program co-ordinator Kevin Gilbert.
“There were kids who put together a business selling bannock that did really well one year and even some students who developed an idea for providing consulting services offering insight into the minds of teenagers — what games they like, what websites appeal to them, things like that. But I think what I enjoy the most is seeing how kids pull together and really catch each other’s enthusiasm and vision.”
Summer camps tend to fill up quickly, and registration for SAIT’s camps began in January while Mount Royal University’s camp registrations opened on Feb. 21.