Course guide · Small Business, Big Ideas

For: Jaime, aged 10, with first-hand experience selling 3D-printed toys.
Suggested format: 9 missions of 20–30 minutes, one or two each week. The challenge in the app is the starting point; a conversation and practical activity complete each mission.
Aim: help Jaime explain how a small business works, estimate costs, tell the difference between income and expenses, plan savings and keep a simple record.

How to support him

Let Jaime explain what he already knows from his own experience first. Then use one of his toys as an example. Work through the sums together, in euros and cents, and always label estimates separately from figures you have checked. There is no need to grade him: keep his answers, drawings and calculations as a small learning portfolio.

For real figures such as electricity, printer wear, prices, payments or delivery, check them with an adult. This course teaches concepts; it does not replace adult supervision for purchases, product safety, legal duties or tax matters.

The nine missions

1. Starting with an idea

Learn: economics, choices and limited resources. Recognise time, materials, electricity, skills and ideas as resources.
In the app: choose which resource needs planning when time is limited.
Away from the screen: draw a toy and list everything it needs to go from idea to finished piece. Circle what you already have and mark what needs planning.

2. Money helps us make choices

Learn: euros, cents, prices and change. Practise adding and subtracting simple amounts.
In the app: work out the change from a payment.
Away from the screen: make three pretend price labels and play at paying with paper coins. Check the change in two ways: count up to the price and subtract.

3. How much does it cost to make?

Learn: costs, variable costs and estimates. Identify filament, packaging and other costs an adult can help calculate.
In the app: add materials and use the cost calculator.
Away from the screen: choose a piece and complete a cost card: material per item, packaging and other known costs. Write “estimate” beside any figure you have not checked.

4. A thoughtful price

Learn: price, income, expense and simple profit. Understand that selling for more than the estimated cost does not automatically make the whole difference available to spend.
In the app: calculate the difference between the money received and the cost.
Away from the screen: compare two pretend prices for the same product. What difference remains after the cost? Which cost might be missing? Talk about value and quality, not just charging more.

5. Budgeting and saving

Learn: budgets, goals and savings. Divide a goal by a weekly amount to estimate how long it will take.
In the app: work out how many weeks a goal will take and watch short videos about saving and budgeting. The app also keeps an editable savings goal.
Away from the screen: choose a specific goal, its cost and a possible weekly amount. If the goal changes, adjust the plan without treating it as a failure.

6. Your accounts notebook

Learn: records, income, expenses and balance. Record when something happened and how it changed the money.
In the app: classify a filament purchase and look at the example sales.
Away from the screen: use a table with four columns: date, reason, money in and money out. Practise with two imaginary examples before recording real transactions.

7. Listen and improve

Learn: customers, needs, prototypes and useful feedback. Improve a piece by asking about the product and protecting people’s privacy.
In the app: choose a helpful question about a figure that does not ask for personal details.
Away from the screen: prepare three questions about shape, use and finish. With an adult, ask someone you trust to try the prototype; record comments about the product only.

8. Grow responsibly

Learn: planning, quality and careful use of materials. A small test can prevent repeating a large print.
In the app: choose how to use a clean offcut for a test.
Away from the screen: look at a print that did not go as expected. Draw what you would change before trying again: size, support, colour or preparation.

9. The fair: present your idea

Learn: bring together the product, costs, suggested price, record-keeping and next steps. Explain in your own words what estimated profit means.
In the app: complete the final calculation and revisit the glossary.
Away from the screen: make a product card with its name, drawing, stock available, estimated cost, suggested price and one question to check with an adult.

Course wrap-up

Jaime can present one of his pieces and answer these questions in his own words:

  1. What resources does it need, and what could you test first?
  2. Which costs have you included, and which are estimates?
  3. What is the difference between income, an expense and profit?
  4. What is your savings goal, and how might you reach it?
  5. What would you record after a sale or purchase?
  6. What feedback could help you improve the product?

He does not need to answer from memory. Finding the right word, explaining a calculation and asking for help when a figure is real are good outcomes too.