CHILD'S PLAY PAYS OFF

Making money is elementary, my dear, with one of these 25 blockbuster biz ideas that cater to kids.

2. Exercise Class For Kids & Their Parents: You can start an exercise studio by traveling to your clients' homes and offering exercises for parents and their kids and babies. The house could rotate each week among neighbors. You don't have to be licensed to be an exercise instructor in many states, but check with the country clerk's office to see what your state's regulations are.

3. Party Planner: You can plan birthday parties, beach outing, picnics or host classic tea parties for the girls and sports parties for the boys. You will provide the activities, the props and the decorations, too. You can charge more if you bring the food, but then you are starting an entirely new business--catering--along with your party planner business. Charge by the hour or by the number of children. Charge whatever the market will bear.

4. Day Care: You might have to be licensed to set up a day care center in your home so do some checking first. You'll probably want to be heavily insured and bonded to protect yourself from liability. Purchase toys, art tables, come up with activities, love to be with kids and you will be on to quite a money-maker.

5. Kid Taxi Service: Parents--especially single parents--don't see to have any time to taxi their kids around to all the events they are involved in these days. You can establish your own shuttle/taxi service for entire teams or individuals. Charge by the ride and you can set a minimum. Check into your insurance to make sure you will be fully covered.

6. Latch Key Program: This type of program offers children a safe harbor after school while waiting for their parents to get out of work. You'll offer activities and perhaps a snack to tide the kids over until their parents pick them up. This business is only run a few hours a day and if you have a dozen kids and charge $50 per kid per week, that translates to $600 a week. You can tie this in with the taxi service and really pull down a bundle of extra dough every week. In the summer months, you could expand the program and call it Summer Fun with planned activities that kids would enjoy.

7. Art Class: If you are handy with some brushes, paint, chalk and crayons and have lots of patience, you can set up an art school in your home. If you don't want to host this service in your own home, check with the local church or fire department and see if you can use their facility once a week for your class. You can make a donation to their organization in exchange for the space. You might not even have to provide the tables and chairs--they might have everything on site.

8. Community Theater Group: Do you long to put together a theater group but can't find any actors or actresses who are ready to become ladies and gentleman of the theater? Then try it with kids! There are plenty of budding stars in your community, they just don't know it yet. You can start by hosting two plays a year and have the kids rehearse, make costumes, design sets and programs, and sell tickets. You charge a fee per child and pocket a tidy profit while the kids and their proud parents have a ball. Check with local schools to see if you can use their stage or gymnasium for your grand productions.

9. Lessons: From Bike Riding To Kite Flying: If you are handy with a talent or skill from bike riding to juggling, consider teaching it to kids. Some parents don't have the time or the patience to adequately teach their hungry children these very necessary rites of passage. If you already have a shop that sells bikes, or kites, sponsor a special event/day/fair that focuses on the product you sell. You can have a kite day at the beach and sell kites who all arrive empty-handed. Same with skateboards, scooters, bikes and skis.

10. Child ID Program: There are several ways to establish this business. You can purchase a turnkey operation that will teach you how to set up a child identify service, or you can purchase ID cards and the other necessary equipment and set up your own child ID program. What you'll be doing is establishing the weight, height, coloring, fingerprints and taking a photo of the child that the parents can keep in case the very scary and unfortunate situation occurs--a child's disappearance. This way, the parents will have all the info on hand to give to the police to help find the child more quickly. See the Business Opportunity section of this issue (beginning on page 74) for more information on these services.

11. Supply Shirts, Caps, Sweatshirts: You can be the supplier for local teams, community clubs, civic groups, school events and more. You'll buy the shirts, caps, whatever at rock-bottom wholesale prices, have them embroider or monogrammed with the group's name and sell them at a nice profit. You'll need a re-sell license to buy the goods wholesale and then you can contact wholesalers in your area or use mail order catalogs to order the goods and set up shop.

12. Shoe Bronzing: You can start a sentimental business providing bronzed baby shoes and hands to parents and adoring grandparents. Check out our Business Opportunity guide that begins on page 74 to investigate options in this field.

13. Create Memorable Videos Of Parties & Event: Are you good with a video camera? You can start a business making videos of parties and special events--awards ceremonies, sports games, religious ceremonies--for your clients. Make a demo tape of one such event and use it to secure other jobs. Practice and refine your editing skills and figure out your labor and other costs and come up with suitable prices to charge for 15 minute, 30 minute and full-hour event videos.

14. Become A Party/ Special Event Performer: Do you have a certain knack with kids? Do you treat them with respect? Are you funny? Then you qualify to be a performer at kiddie events and parties. Make up a character and put together a fun and colorful costume. Add some props like a wacky hat or a wig, a horn, a scooter and voila! You'll be in business as an in-demand performer. You might even have to hire others to duplicate your character if you become a booming success and can't handle all of the gigs. Charge by the hour and start advertising in your local paper.

15. Inflatables For Parties: There are several great companies that manufacture and sell those fun inflatables. They are excellent for a wide variety of events including parades and corporate parties, but kids love them perhaps most of all. In fact, there are fun inflatables made exclusively for children. Turn to page 74 and see our Business Opportunity section for a complete listing of inflatable companies from whom you can purchase fun products and jumps.

16. Photography Biz: There are some great cameras on the market today that don't require that you be a Harry Benson to take a great photograph. You can start your own photography business. You can photograph birthdays, outdoor events, school picnics, sports competitions and more. Advertise and show your portfolio to generate clients. Do a great job and word-of-mouth will generate even more business.

17. Dance Class: A growing number of little girls and boys are becoming fascinated with dance. Chalk it up to everything from ballet Barbie to the Backstreet Boys. Dance is big with kids and they would love to organize their own troupe and perform just like the pros they watch on television and videos. Put together a few dance class concepts and start advertising. Look for space to host your class and start thinking about where you are going to host your recital.

18. Offer Personalized Products: Kids love mailing labels, cups, glasses, hats, pens, pencils and just about anything else you can think to put a name on to start your own personalized products enterprise. You'll need to

19. Host Pirate Treasure Hunts: You'll develop a personalized map of the site--which must be done in advance of the planned treasure hunt day. You'll plant little tokens, charms, toys and wrapped candies in a treasure chest. You'll arrive dressed in full pirate regalia on the day of the treasure hunt armed with maps for each of the kids present. Yes, "x" will mark the spot of the buried treasure. The kids will help find it and help dig it up and will enjoy the contents at the birthday party or other fun outdoor event.

20.Party Planner: You can be the one who picks the themes, decorates, organizes all of the games, puts together the invitations, goodie bags and the place settings and the piñata. Party planning businesses are booming, especially for children's parties. Busy parents just don't have the time to get it together. Consider tying in with several businesses who also host parties: jungle gyms, local miniature golf courses, water parks, etc. You can bring the birthday business to them and take a commission for your finder's fee.

21. Music Lessons: If you are lucky enough to possess a musical talent and have the patience to teach this skill, consider starting your own music lesson enterprise. You can teach the lessons at the kid's home and charge by the lesson which will probably last from 30 to 40 minutes. You can sell books to the kids and have them rent the instruments from a local music store that will provide you with a commission for each student brought to them. Consider putting on a concert at the end of each year to showcase the kids' talents--and yours.

22. Coach A Team: There are probably teams in town that could be playing and having a ball, but there aren't enough coaches to go around. You can be the coach and take a fee for your work from the busy parents who can't step in when junior calls!

23. Scrapbooks: You'll take family photographs and postcards, plus letters and ribbons and bows and other momentos of special events, ceremonies and moments in the lives of your clients' families. You'll present the scrapbooks to the families and collect your fee for putting together these wonderful memories. Families want these scrapbooks but don't have the time, creativity or the inclination to get them together.

24.Room Decor: Nursery decor is a potentially huge business during our baby-booming times. Put together a few themes and decorate a room or two for your friends--they'll have to pay for the paint, wallpaper borders, decorations, etc.--but you'll be able to include the photos of the finished rooms in your brochure portfolio to generate business. Once you develop a few solid themes that you feel comfortable with and that are marketable, you'll be swimming in business if your community is experiencing a baby boom.

25.Photography Club For Kids: If you have photography skills, patience and a knack for teaching, you can combine all these talents into a photo club for kids venture. You'll be meeting with children once a week to go on a photo outing such as to a park, a beach or some other public place. You'll help the kids make photo albums of their work based on a theme they've chosen. You'll collect a weekly fee for the club.