© Mike Venso/Lewiston Morning Tribune

They washed cars, fashioned wind chimes and sold them at craft fairs, mowed lawns, painted faces, and raked in the dough. But first, these entrepreneurial sixth to ninth graders learned about checking accounts and business plans, productive work habits and effective business cards.

Kids, Inc., a new summer program sponsored by the UI Cooperative Extension System in Idaho County, helps kids build a work ethic, understand the needs of employers, and find productive uses for empty summer days. "Kids that age love money," said extension educator Mary Schmidt, "but they can't work for a regular business because they're not of age." The answer: help them set up their own businesses, some of which, like the craft businesses of Miranda Perdue (left) and Christina Hawkes, are still going strong.