10 Things You Can Pay Grandchildren to Do

Instead of looking in the Yellow Pages, hire a grandchild

By: Bethany Kandel | Source: Grandparents.com

It's no secret that grandparents like to give gifts. You regularly send your grandchildren birthday checks, slip cash into their eager hands as you hug them good-bye after visits, or buy them the toys they've "always wanted." But there's another way to give to your grandchildren, one that helps you get something in return and teaches kids that with hard work comes financial reward—paying them for doing jobs for you.

"You may need the deck washed, the lawn mowed, or the snow shoveled," says Janet Bodnar, author of Raising Money-Smart Kids (Kaplan Business, 2005). "Instead of paying a stranger to do it, why not pay the grandkids?" Most grandchildren are willing to help their grandparents without any compensation, of course, but putting them on your payroll can give them extra motivation. Plus, Bodnar notes, "You're not only teaching them the value of work, but while they're over at your house, it gives you some together time. That's more valuable than any of the financial stuff."

Here are some ways you can put your own grandchildren to work:

1. Is your attic overflowing or are your closets bursting at the seams? Pay grandchildren by the hour to help you reduce, recycle, and reorganize your belongings. If they find anything of value that you no longer want or need, let them sell it at a yard sale for a percentage of the profits, or donate it to a school or charity. They'll get a kick out of seeing how much your "junk" is really worth, and "you'll also give them some real-world entrepreneurial skills," Bodnar says.

2. Hire the kids to help you create a family-history archive by organizing your shoeboxes of old photographs and mementos into books or albums. The children can record the date, location, and names of the people or places in each photograph, and as you review your memories with them, you can bond over your family's extraordinary past.

3. Preserve your best-loved recipes for future generations by asking a grandchild to create a cookbook binder with all the family favorites. They can add notes about the origin of each recipe and which holidays you make it for.

4. Contract a grandchild to handle tech support for you. It's an opportunity for the younger generation to teach you something, suggests Dolly Fishman, 79, of Rochester, N.Y. When her 17-year-old grandson, Ryan, spent a summer with his grandparents, he became the on-site electronics whiz—programming numbers into phones, setting preferences on the DVD player, and fixing computer glitches.

"I knew he could do anything a lot faster than [I could] if I tried by reading the manual," Fishman says. A tech-savvy grandchild could also download your favorite songs onto an iPod for you, set up a webcam so you can chat with distant relatives, and even create a website for you. And whatever you pay a grandchild for these jobs, it's still probably cheaper than hiring a tech-support company.

5. Hire a grandchild to be your chauffeur. Ryan Fishman, who got his drivers license the summer he stayed with his grandparents, regularly drove his grandfather, Harold (who could no longer drive), around town to shop, meet friends, and go to the library. New drivers will welcome the opportunity to practice their skills, and you'll get to bond during the time spent on the road.

6. Need a new appliance, computer, or car? Hire a grandchild with Internet expertise to research and find the best product for the best price by locating savings codes and coupons and scanning online reviews. If you save a bundle, raise your young assistant's pay for a job well done.

7. Recruit grandchildren to be party planners and help you organize and shop for a family reunion or picnic this summer. They can send out invitations and track RSVPs, come up with ideas for themes, decorations and colors, and help choose the menu.

8. As a housecleaning project, grandchildren can alphabetize and reshelve your books, LPs, CDs, DVDs, or videos. As they work with you, you can choose what to sell or donate, and just maybe the kids will show some interest in old 33's or books that they want to take home for themselves.

9. Don't forget the old standbys: lawn mowing, hedge-trimming, leaf raking, and room painting. Negotiate a fair rate and put these strong young people to work. For teenagers struggling to find summer jobs in a record-tight service-job market, the income they can get from working around your house can make a real difference.

10. Small grandchildren can work, too. Pay a young child to help you plant or weed your garden or sort the coins in your spare change jar into holders to take to the bank.

Along with the other benefits, keep in mind one more financial lesson you can share with your grandchild staff, Bodnar advises. "Don’t just hand the money over. Show them how to save some of their earnings." Instead of giving a grandchild a $20 bill, for example, give him or her two tens and suggest spending one and saving the other for something special. Better yet, offer to keep a share of their earnings in a piggy bank at your house to spend at the end of the season. "You can even offer to match what they've saved down the line to help them reach their goal," Bodnar says.

After all, spoiling your grandchildren is your prerogative—just like hiring them.

 
This article originally appeared on Grandparents.com.© Grandparents.com LLC.