Keiki Collection lets children sell their handmade goods

Kindergartner Avinash Vu repurposes glass bottles into etched drinkware and vases for succulent-plant arrangements. Third-grader Ken Shiraishi has been drawing and painting since he was a toddler. Fifth-grader Isabella Aucello creates clay charms and catnip toys.

These three are part of The Keiki Collection, a new initiative that gives children opportunities to explore, create and sell their handmade goods.

After talking to many parents, Ruhi Shah, founder of the children’s clothing line Rama, realized there was a need for an outlet to help kids sell their handmade goods while gaining practical, hands-on skills and mentorship from professionals.

“I wanted to give them a forum to be creative,” she said. “The entrepreneurial spirit is not just about making profits. It’s about resilience, challenges, hard work and giving back.”

The experience of creating handmade goods and selling them can help children gain the skills they need not only in school, but in life, said Shah, mother of two artistic daughters, ages 3 and 6.

Kids age 6 to 17 can show off their talents at The Keiki Collection, whether it be with handmade crafts and jewelry, original artwork, apparel or personally produced music.

Every step of the way, they learn how a business works — from how to price a product, how to market, create a logo or brand name and interact with customers. Shah will help place the kids’ creations at various retail outlets, which could include a spot at the monthly Art + Flea market, for instance, while also featuring them on her website and social media channels.

Michele Aucello, Isabella’s mom, says she thought The Keiki Collection would be a great creative outlet for her daughter. Both Isabella and her brother, Luca, have been selling fruit and vegetables from their home garden in Kaimuki, as well as eggs from their pet chickens, at The Littlest Co-op, a keiki-run booth at the Kakaako Farmer’s Market on Saturdays at Ward Village Shops.

Through that program, she has seen both become more self-confident. They learn about customer service and how to negotiate if someone bargains for a lower price.

While the co-op focuses on produce, this program gives Isabella, 11, an opportunity to sell her handiwork, like her clay charms.

She also plans to sell handmade catnip toys, each uniquely designed with felt and ribbons as part of a school project on animal abuse at Mid-Pacific Institute. All proceeds from the toy sales, she says, will be donated to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Meeta Vu, Avinash’s mom, said she loves watching her 6-year-old Punahou School kindergartner figure out marketplace issues, like how to price his drinking glasses, made from recycled Perrier bottles, or how much he will profit from selling vases.

He’s using math to figure it out, and learning time management and planning skills, she said. Instead of getting an allowance, he makes his own money to buy his own Animal Kaiser game cards. Those seeds of entrepreneurship are being planted.

“It’s real life,” she said, “and the way real business works. … It’s understanding what it takes to earn money.”

The family creates the glassware as a weekend project. While his parents cut the glass for safety reasons, Avinash sands them down and fills them with soil and succulents. For the drinking cups, he selects the colors and designs and is learning the etching process.

Ken Shiraishi, 9, is a talented artist with a few awards already under his belt, according to mom Mariko Shiraishi. The third-grader at Montessori Community School won first place in the “8 and under” category for his submission, “Grape Eco Car” in the Toyota Hawaii Dream Car Art Contest last year.

He works with acrylics and watercolors but also enjoys graphic design. He plans to sell his paintings through The Keiki Collection.

Shah hopes to offer mentors from the community for the keiki entrepreneurs.

For a child like Ken, for instance, she would love for an art curator to offer insight and ideas on how a painting is valued. When Shah saw one of Ken’s paintings, she told him, Ken, this is amazing. Have you ever thought about selling it? He responded, “Yes, for about $100,000!”

The prices for the paintings have not yet been determined, according to his mom. She sees an entrepreneurial spirit in him already, and wants to nurture that as well as his creativity.

The Keiki Collection’s goal is more about education than profits, according to Shah. The kids who sign up will be required to pay a fee of $1 to $2 to join and contribute 25 percent of their gross sales to the collection for operating costs.

Parental involvement is encouraged, and a parent or legal guardian must register on behalf of the minor and be present at all events.

To register, visit ramacollection.com/keikicollection.