In this article
Give them a business for the week. Pick one thing they can make or do - a bake sale, a pumpkin stall, washing two neighbours' cars - and help them sell it to family, friends and neighbours before Friday. It fills the whole week by itself: make the stock on Monday, price it on Tuesday, prep on Wednesday, sell on Thursday, count the profit on Friday. (Half term is 26-30 October for most of England and Wales.)
The short version
- One business beats five booked activities - and it costs pocket money, not a day-trip budget.
- They pick the idea. A so-so idea they chose beats a brilliant one they didn't.
- Monday make it, Tuesday price it, Wednesday prep it, Thursday sell it, Friday count it.
- Do the pricing with them - the free profit calculator makes the numbers real in ten minutes.
- Selling to neighbours and family is fine at almost any age, with your permission.
Here's how most half terms go: you book something expensive for Tuesday, everyone's fed up of each other by Wednesday, and by Friday you've spent £80 and the kids have been on screens for most of it. We've been there. The thing that changed it for us was giving the children something to run - a stall, a round of jobs, a product to sell - because a week with something to finish doesn't need filling. It fills itself.
When is October half term 2026?
For most councils in England and Wales it runs Monday 26 to Friday 30 October. Scottish councils often break earlier in the month, and every school sets its own dates - check your school's calendar, not this article. Either way the plan below works the same: five weekdays, one job, one sale at the end of it.
The five-day plan
Sit down together the night before half term starts and pick the business. That conversation is the whole planning meeting - everything after this list is your child's job, not yours.
Monday - make the stock
Bake the batch, mix the hot chocolate sachets, draw the pumpkin faces, prep the bucket and sponges. One sitting, done by lunch. Finished matters more than perfect - they can always make more.
Tuesday - price it
Work out what the ingredients or supplies actually cost, then set a price that leaves something over. This is the day the maths gets real: 500g of flour, six eggs, what does one cookie cost to make? Open the free profit calculator and do it together.
Wednesday - prep the pitch
Make the poster and the price sign, write the message for the family WhatsApp group, decide which three neighbours to try first. Rehearse the sentence they'll actually say at the door. This is the day shy kids quietly get braver.
Thursday - sell
The sale happens: neighbours, family, friends, a table with permission at a community event. Take the money, give the change, keep the stock moving. Whatever they earn by teatime, they've earned.
Friday - count it and pay it back
Count the takings, subtract what the ingredients cost, and work out the profit. Then decide together: save it, spend half, or put it towards the next batch. This is the bit they remember in November.
5 half-term businesses that actually earn
All five have been run by actual children in actual October half terms. Start with the one that matches what your child already likes doing - the idea matters less than the finishing.
The bake sale
Cupcakes or cookies at 50p-£1 each, sold to neighbours, family and friends over the weekend. Cost the ingredients on Tuesday so the price is a decision, not a guess. Realistic take: £5-£20 - pocket money, not a wage, and that's fine.
The pumpkin stall
It's pumpkin season and hand-drawn faces sell themselves near Halloween. Small pumpkins, 50p-£2 depending on size. Ask a shop, café or community space if they'll host a small table - most say yes to a polite email from a ten-year-old.
The car wash round
Two neighbours, £5 each, bucket, sponge and an hour of graft. The classic for a reason. From about age 8 with permission and supervision; from 12 they can run the round themselves and book the next one.
The hot chocolate stand
A table at the end of a family walk or outside a community event: 50p a cup, marshmallows 20p extra. That extra 20p is the first upsell they'll ever make - let them decide whether to try it.
The bedroom clear-out
Outgrown games, books and clothes resold on a family-managed Vinted account (12+, with you holding the logins). The twist that works: they photograph, describe and price the items themselves. The profit goes to the seller.
And if the first idea flops? That's the lesson too. One quiet Saturday afternoon teaches more about customers than a winning stall ever will - ask what they'd change, and let them try the next idea. Failure is cheap at this size.
Ideas by age
Ages 6-8
They run the stall and you handle the money. Baking with real jobs at every step; a shop of their own toys, sold back to the family with real coins; drawing the pumpkin faces; making the poster; counting the coins at the end of Thursday.
Ages 9-11
The sweet spot for the full five-day plan. Bake sale lead, pumpkin stall, car wash round, friendship bracelets or custom stickers at 50p each. This is also the age they can do the pricing maths with a calculator and mean it.
Ages 12-14
Run it end to end: idea, cost, price, poster, sale, profit. Add reselling outgrown clothes on a family-managed Vinted account, a batch-baking order for family friends, or tutoring a younger child in something they're genuinely good at.
Ages 15-18
Real money is on the table now: a dog-walking round, exam tutoring for £8-£12 an hour, baking to order for neighbours, a weekend of reselling. Whatever they run, the week becomes the first CV bullet point they can actually defend in an interview.
For a bigger list - 101 of them, with costs and difficulty marked on every idea - the 101 business ideas for kids guide is free to browse.
The honest bit
This is pocket money, not a company - and saying so plainly keeps you on the right side of the rules. Selling to family, friends and neighbours with your permission is fine at almost any age. Selling anywhere public - a school gate, a market, door to door - needs your involvement and, sometimes, permission from whoever runs the place. Ask first, every time.
Children under 13 can't be formally employed, which is exactly why their own small venture is the right shape: it's theirs. And if they earn regularly rather than once, it's worth knowing there are HMRC rules about children's income - for the amounts in this article, a note in a jar is sufficient record-keeping.
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Pick the idea – the age-filtered 101 business ideas list has costs and difficulty on every idea.
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Get the numbers real – the free profit and pricing tools turn a made-up price into actual maths.
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Look at someone real – 250+ UK female founders who started small - stories they can see themselves in.
If the week goes well and they want to keep going, the free first module of the Pioneers track (9-11) or the Innovators track (12-14) is the natural next step - no card needed.
If a business isn't their thing
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Museums with free entry - many run half-term family activities you can book free in advance.
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The library: holiday craft sessions, a fresh stack of books, and it costs nothing.
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Junior parkrun (ages 4-14, free, 9am Sundays, 2km) - genuinely good for kids who like a crowd.
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One recipe cooked properly by them - budgeting, timing and patience in one afternoon.
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Your local community centre and library's social pages: free half-term sessions run by volunteers, mostly missed by everyone Googling 'things to do'.
One big paid day out is a lovely thing. As the structure for a whole week it's a trap - expensive, tiring, and everything after it feels flat. One outing, one job, done.
When it all falls apart by Thursday
It might. The stock doesn't sell, the neighbour cancels, the weather ruins the car wash. Here's what actually helps:
- 1
Offer a choice, not a question. 'Do you want to bake the next batch or design the new sign?' beats 'what do you want to do?' every time. Two specific options is not nagging - it's a handrail.
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Show them the number, not the lecture. 'The stall made £8.40' lands harder than any speech about perseverance. Let the result do the talking, and ask one question: what would you change next time?
- 3
Expect the Wednesday crash. The first days of any holiday carry the exhaustion of a full term. If Tuesday is a write-off, protect the sleep and start again Wednesday. A slower week is not a failed one.
And the truth behind all of it: an hour with nothing to do is where most good business ideas start. Leave the gap open. That's where the next stall comes from.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is October half term 2026 in the UK?
For most councils in England and Wales, October half term 2026 runs from Monday 26 to Friday 30 October. Scottish councils often set their October break earlier in the month, and every school sets its own dates, so check your school's term calendar.
How much money can a child realistically make at a half-term bake sale?
Realistically £5 to £20 for a weekend of selling to neighbours, family and friends. After the cost of ingredients, treat it as pocket money rather than a wage. The real return is the practice: costing, pricing, dealing with customers and counting what is left.
Can my child sell things during half term?
Selling to family, friends and neighbours with your permission is fine at almost any age. Selling in public places - a stall at the school gate, a market, or door to door - needs your involvement and, in some cases, permission from whoever runs the location. Children under 13 cannot be formally employed, which is exactly why their own small venture is the right shape.
What half term activities work for teenagers who say everything is boring?
Give them money at the end of it. Teenagers who will not touch a family activity will run a car-wash round, take a tutoring job or clear out their bedroom and resell what they no longer use - because the profit is theirs. One real project with money at the end beats a week of planned entertainment.
How do I stop the whole week from becoming screens?
Do not fight the screens head on. Give the day one anchor - the batch to bake, the stall to prep, the customers to see - and let screens fill the gaps afterwards. A child with a job to finish by Thursday does not need the week filled for them.
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