TEAM ATB ACTIVITY GUIDE

Kids are perfect entrepreneurs—they’re creative, stubborn, often fearless, and full of energy and ideas. But most kids do not see themselves as entrepreneurs. This may be true of the kids in your group as well. But you can help to change that. Everyone has entrepreneurial qualities, although they may not define them as such. Entrepreneurs are ordinary people who often achieve extraordinary things! In this unit, kids explore what and who entrepreneurs are and the characteristics they possess. This helps to ground the kids for later exploration of their own entrepreneurial traits and abilities.

Team ATB Meeting At-a-Glance

• Watch video
• Do JUMPSTARTER and EXPLORE IT!
• Discuss quote or profile

RELATED VIDEO AND CONCEPT

Watch the following video. Play the video once so kids can focus on what happens. Play it again. This time, ask kids to write down all the entrepreneurs they see.
Be an Entrepreneur (What is an entrepreneur?): The whole ATB gang comes together to show what it really means to be an entrepreneur.

Videos are on the ATB DVD included with this guide and online at allterrainbrain.org.

Quote

“I think the soul of an entrepreneur is to keep trying until you find the successful idea.”
—Sabeer Bhatia, founder of Hotmail.”

Entrepreneurs often have to go through a number of ideas before finding the right one that works. Ask: Is every idea successful? How do you think an entrepreneur finds a successful idea? Do you think it’s important to keep trying?

You may want to copy this and similar quotations and post them around the meeting room. Encourage kids to bring in inspiring quotes they may know.

JUMPSTARTER

Who Am I?

Cut up small pieces of paper, one for each kid. Choose and write one of the ATB Entrepreneurial Concepts on each piece of paper. Tape the pieces to the ball. Have kids stand in a circle. Toss the ball to someone and tell him or her to choose and take one of the pieces of paper. Have the kid read the concept and try to give a brief definition. Then have the kid toss the ball to someone else. Repeat the process until everyone has taken a turn. Ask kids to guess what kind of individual might have all of those attributes. If no one guesses correctly, tell them the concepts all apply to an entrepreneur and that they’ll be exploring all of those concepts.

EXPLORE IT!

That's Entrepreneurial!

Now that kids have had a chance to “toss the entrepreneurial concepts around,” help them go a little deeper. Using the concept that they chose, play an entrepreneurial matching game. Have kids think of a time that they used the concept in their lives and write a few sentences about their experiences—without using the name of the concept on the paper. Divide the group into teams of 4 or 5 kids. Place each team’s writing in a bag and give it to another team. Each team should work to figure out which entrepreneurial concept applies to each situation and write the name of that concept on the piece of paper. They can refer to the ATB Entrepreneurial Concepts written on the flipchart, as needed. Give them 5–10 minutes to complete the match up. Then bring the groups together and have one kid from each group present their guesses. Each situation-writer says whether the team’s guesses are correct or not.

Each kid on the team who guesses earns 1 Team ATB Buck for each correct guess.

TEAM ATB WEB CHALLENGE

Kids can further explore the entrepreneurial concepts and earn 3 Team ATB Bucks by completing a Team ATB Web Challenge online at allterrainbrain.org. Ask them to click on the Activities page, complete the Spread the Word activity, and report back at the next meeting. Kids can also earn their Entrepreneur badge by clicking on ATB TV in the upper left corner, scrolling down to the list of topics, clicking on Entrepreneur, and completing all 3 activities. Ask kids to print the Badges found on the upper right corner of the Road Map page, cut out any badges they've earned, and bring them to the next Team ATB meeting so they can add them to their Team ATB Road Map.

YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS IN ACTION

Share this real-life story with your group to inspire their entrepreneurial dreams.

Jasmine Lawrence

Courtesy of April Y Lawrence

At age fifteen, Jasmine Lawrence is already President and CEO of her own company, which specializes in creating all-natural hair and skin care products. At only age eleven, her hair was badly damaged by a product and fell out. This difficult experience inspired Jasmine to develop hair products that promote healthy, strong hair. She spent time in the library reading and researching her idea before starting her business in her home with a $2,000 loan from her mother. She recruited her mother, siblings, and friends to help her “set up shop” and make and package her products. Jasmine’s business grew rapidly, and soon she was selling to salons and then to national retailers. Her first year in business was “hairy,” but she made $10,000. She’s moved the business from her house to larger space she purchased and continues to expand her hair and skin care lines.

Reflect on the profile:
Jasmine took a bad experience and turned it into something that not only helped her but other people as well. Ask: How did Jasmine recognize an opportunity? What was it? What do you guess she had to do to “set up shop?” How would you describe her entrepreneurial spirit?

RESOURCES

Web

allterrainbrain.org
Extends the exploration of ATB concepts through fun activities and games, videos, and young entrepreneur profiles.

Books

The Young Entrepreneur’s Guide to Starting and Running a Business by Steve Mariotti (Random House, 2000)
This entrepreneurship primer includes stories and case studies of successful entrepreneurs and features concrete strategies for turning hobbies, skills, and talents into profit-making ventures.