Would they be interested in babysitting or being a mommy's helper? Even if they are not old enough to be left home alone with younger kids, they could help out. I know sometimes I just need someone to keep the kids entertained while I clean around the house. Or sometimes it is helpful to have an extra set of hands when going to a park, museum, or a movie.

I have the same circumstances. I know at the high school my daughter attends there is a list of workplaces that hire fourteen and fifteen year olds.(Chick-fil-A, Dairy Queen, Kroger are a few)

an hour a day at a swimming pool is great exercise.

Ah, I've been there!!! This is what he did for 2 summers that he was not old enough to work, but I was %^&* if he was going to sit and play video games all day!
He painted mailbox posts for $15 each - I bought all the startup supplies: spray bleach (step 1, clean the posts from mold, etc), rags (for cleaning and laying down around the bottom while painting), paint (a cheap primer that went on first then an exterior, glossy, not expensive type) and brushes. We advertised all over and he had about 4 customers a week.
Pet sitting
Plant sitting
lawn mowing, hedge trimming (a lot of people don't like to trim hedges!)
dog walking

Now that he is 17, he still offers to do these 'on the side', and people still call him...
good luck

Oh, and one more thing. A neighbor of mine went around looking for volunteer jobs and they are also hard to find for anyone under 16, but the Durham Scrap Exchange took her son for several hours per week, and my church gladly accepted help in various ways every week.

Fantastic ideas! I will definitely be showing my daughter those.

Make honeysuckle ice cream! It tastes great, and it takes gallons of blossoms. Kinda like berry-picking, find a group of kids to take to a field of honeysuckle and pick bag fulls.

Love the mailbox post painting idea. Hadn't heard of that one. Maybe the idea could be expanded into a more creative, artistic service for an artsy kid: mailbox painting. They could have a stock of designs that they do: clouds or flowers or geometric designs.

How about bus boy or bus girl at an area restaurant? My friend's son did this when he was 15 (now he's 16). There should also be some junior counselor programs, too, at Cary Parks, Raleigh Parks, the Y.
Good luck!

Alice Osborn, MA
www.aliceosborn.com

Thanks for the great ideas. In the comic strip "Zits," the mom is constantly trying to get her 16 year old to look for a job. Although I don't think he needs to pick cotton all day, I would like him doing something (painting mailboxes, maybe) that's constructive.

The painting mailbox posts sounds like something that might interest my two older grandchildren. Where do you purchase the unfinished posts and at what price? Or did he refurbish existing mailbox posts?

My girls ordered free business cards from Vista Print ($5 for shipping) touting pet sitting, babysitting and mother's helper, and passed them out all over the neighborhood. My oldest (12 1/2) has been inundated with jobs. She's pet sit every week this summer, and has earned almost $500 altogether. My 10 yr old passed out her cards at our pool, offering to watch toddlers while at the pool so the mother could have some relaxing time-the little ones LOVE having someone just to play with them, and what a great treat for the mom. Also, my kids ran a 1/2 day camp for little girls out of our house for a week at the beginning of the summer. I truly did nothing besides being present in the house. They put together a schedule before hand, with crafts, snacks, games, etc, and charged each kid $40 for the week. In exchange for "tuition" for my own 6 yr old, I bought their supplies so the rest of the money they made was all profit. They had 7 campers including their sister, and the kids all had a blast and each of my three older girls made $80 for the week. Where there is an entrepeneur spirit, there's a way, believe me:-)

One more comment.......for kids that are not super motivated to make their own fun or work and keep themselves busy, give them a nice long list of daily chores and it's AMZING how quickly they get creative in finding other things to do!:-)