From handmade crafts to innovative goods, the Acton Children’s Business Fair showcased the excitement and determination of young minds, each booth a testament to creativity and hard work. As family and friends explored the marketplace, children proudly displayed their products. The annual event occurred on May 11, displaying fifty-two businesses and drawing in hundreds of customers.
“We have a really cool group of students and families,” said Kate Dao, head of school for Acton Academy East Bay. “ I think it’s a really great opportunity for them to have this experience, but we wanted to make it fun and include members of our community that might not have this sort of opportunity at their own schools.”
The event, hosted by Acton Academy East Bay, is meant to be the culmination of six weeks of hard work within the school and provide an exhibition for the students to show off their work. Even though the event is hosted by the school, any children between the ages of five and eighteen can participate. Businesses ranged from food to handmade artwork and everything in between.
“There’s so many different types of businesses today. There’s food, there’s drinks, there’s products, there’s services. I think that the best thing for me is to actually just see [kids] trying and doing it,” said Dao.
Sprinkled throughout the United States, over one thousand Children’s Business Fairs take place every year. Acton Academy East Bay’s branch of the fair takes place yearly at Emerald Glen Park in Dublin.
Azra Yilmaz, a fifth grader at Acton Academy East Bay picked a tasty route for her booth: cookies, muffins, cakes, and other sweet treats.
“Our first batch didn’t turn out like we wanted it to, so that kind of set us back. But that’s kind of helped me learn that you kind of have to be patient,” said Yilmaz.
The business fair builds crucial life skills, like communication, money management, and personal responsibility. It allows the kids to tackle real-world problems in an easy and low-stakes way. Each child picks a business idea as a part of their school curriculum for the six week session. Then, they work on it with the help and guidance of their peers and teachers.
“Communication is one of the most important things that they learn. They’re actually selling their products, they’re talking to their customers. Also, hard work and grit and resilience because sometimes things don’t work out. Some of the students who are doing food, maybe the first time they made the waffles, it didn’t turn out. Or sometimes they did the lemonade and it wasn’t how they wanted it. Or, you know, something didn’t work out with their product. So, I just think that having the opportunity to learn through that and not be afraid of failing and just to keep going, to keep trying, I think that’s another great skill to have, that resilience,” shared Dao.
Camille Edwards, a seventh grader at Acton Academy East Bay chose to sell stickers designed by hand as her business this year. Edwards has participated in the Children’s Business Fair for the past four years and continues to enjoy doing it.
“Art is kind of that one thing where you want to wait for it to just come, but sometimes it doesn’t so you just have to push yourself to actually do it,” said Edwards. “I say do it. Do not be like me who waited and cringed at my own art for years and years. Go ahead and do it, I don’t care how cringe you might think it is. You should go and do it because there’ll always be someone out there who appreciates it, at least one person”
Continuing with the handmade items, Ally Mestel, a seventh grader at Acton Academy sold handmade crochet plushies and stuffed toys.
“My favorite part was when these two teenage boys came in, and they spent forever deciding between two ducks, and then they just said ‘I’ll get one and you’ll get one’ and then they also bought my biggest plush and it made me so happy,” said Mestel.
Children’s Business Fairs aim to inspire the next group of entrepreneurs to dream big and reach for the stars.
“I think that the beauty of a fair is that you see what your joys and what your passions are. Then, you get to try it, it’s not such a big risk, and it’s a lot of fun,” said Dao.
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Ally Mestel’s booth, Crafty Companions, began fully stocked, but her cuddly creations dwindled as the fair went on.
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Azra Yilmaz’s bakery booth was love at first bite for many.
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The kids were super creative with their marketing as well. Mestel allowed her customers to play a claw machine in order to buy their plushies.
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With warm weather and friendly smiles, the Children’s Business Fair was the perfect spot for a family outing.
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This shop, Teadle, sold candles in teacups. Fun fact: all of the teacups were thrifted from local thrift stores.
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For the kids between five and seven years old, they were able to run their booth with a friend, co-owning the business together.
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Kids of all ages from across the Tri-Valley area participated in the fair.
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With temperatures of 85 degrees gracing the fair, cold treats sold extremely well.
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