In the press
Make it, present it, sell it: how Kids Market gives children their first experience of entrepreneurship
Archived article. Dates, event announcements and terms reflect the original publication date.
In Florida, financial literacy is already part of compulsory school education: students entering ninth grade from the 2023–2024 school year onward must earn a separate credit in personal financial literacy and money management to receive a standard high school diploma. But a child’s introduction to money, prices and responsibility for their own product can begin much earlier—not with a textbook, but with something they made, their first customer and their first earned dollar.
This is the idea behind Business Family Kids Market: a space where children can do more than display their work. They can take a small but very real entrepreneurial journey: devise and create a product, present it to a stranger, name a price, answer questions and try to make their first sale.
The next Kids Market will take place on August 15 in Hollywood as part of Art in the Atrium — Arts & Craft Fair. The event itself is organized by the City of Hollywood, with Business Family participating through its children’s area. Young participants will present paintings, handmade items, 3D-printed creations, souvenirs and other projects of their own.
From Kids Expo to an independent Kids Market
The project’s story began even before Kids Expo, the Business Family event that combined family entertainment with an educational focus. Participants included professionals and organizations working with children and supplementary education. It was there that a small fair first appeared, giving several children a chance to present things they had made themselves.
“The idea emerged very naturally from conversations with parents. Many said their children were making things and wanted not only to show the results, but also to try selling them and feel that someone was truly interested in their work. Business Family has always developed its educational activities, and we thought: why not let children experience entrepreneurship in practice rather than in theory? Kids Expo was our first trial of the format, and we saw a very enthusiastic response—from parents and, most importantly, from the children themselves,” says Andrey Stolbunov.
The first fair was small, with only a few young participants. Now there are seven or eight. They will include Andrey Stolbunov’s daughter, who knits. What began as one part of a larger family event has gradually become an independent project.
In this story, Kids Expo was a testing ground rather than an endpoint. It revealed families’ interest in a format where children move from spectators to participants and take responsibility for what they create and how they present their work to others.
What happens behind a child’s market stall
Behind the simple scene of a child selling a handmade item lies a whole series of tasks. They need to tell a stranger what they made, explain their choice of material or idea, name a price, respond to a question or a refusal, keep their composure and continue talking to the next visitor. For a child, this is simultaneous practice in independence, communication and understanding the value of their own work.
Money is not the only goal here. It is a tangible result of an entire sequence of actions: imagine, make, present and agree. Even if a participant never becomes an entrepreneur, the experience of speaking publicly about their work, receiving feedback and carrying an idea through to a result stays with them.
The next goal: a monthly format
Taking part in Art in the Atrium will be the next stage for Kids Market. After its first trial within Kids Expo, the project is moving to a city venue and a wider audience. For Business Family, however, this is not a one-off initiative. The team plans to make the children’s markets regular events held every month.
“We want this to be more than a single lovely day. We want a regular, warm and truly useful project for children. We already have significantly more participants than at the first fair. If we see that the format continues to resonate with families and children themselves, we will develop it further, hold Kids Market every month and gradually try bringing the idea to other South Florida cities,” says Andrey Stolbunov.
That is the main difference between Kids Market and an ordinary children’s fair: selling becomes a learning tool. Children get a safe space to try, for the first time, what adults call product presentation, customer communication, responsibility for results and entrepreneurial thinking.
Perhaps that first experience—a creation on a table, a first conversation with a customer and a first independently earned dollar—is what turns financial literacy from an abstract school subject into part of a child’s real life.
Upcoming event
- Art in the Atrium — Arts & Craft Fair
- August 15, 2026, 11:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.
- Fred Lippman Multipurpose Center, 2030 Polk Street, Hollywood, Florida
- Admission is free
- Business Family is participating in the city event with its Kids Market area
Sources: the Art in the Atrium / Business Family Kids Market page — luma.com/artinatriumguests; Florida Statutes §1003.4282(3)(h), personal financial literacy requirements; an interview with Andrey Stolbunov provided to the author.