Bambinos make it BIG!

Creative Cards by Angel

The first ever bunch of budding business Bambinos held their very own market stall at at market within a market - Bambino Bazaar at Rusco Market Bazaar at Tivoli Drive-in - on Saturday 25 June 2011! And BOY did they go gangbusters! The were selling like seasoned professionals with over half of the stalls selling out completely. It was a fairytale come true!

Cassie's Colourful Creations - 6 years!!

Over 10 weeks, our first bambinos, aged 8 -12years came to The Ellenborough Room (Top of Town, Ipswich) thanks to the generous "Knight in Shining Armour" sponsorship of Janette Adams from Precious Packages, who offered this meeting room free of charge and storage space.

Kerryanne Farrer, director and "Queen Bee" of Pineapple Productions guided our bambinos step-by- step through the basics of business principals - a mini MBA (micro business accreditation!).

 Each week, we covered the principles of business in a child-friendly manner. Children would have homework to work on during the week with the support of parents and mentors.



The basic structure of the course followed these topics:

Black Eagle, Imagination = Creation

• Once Upon A Time... (Dreaming/Vision/Focusing On Your Talents And Interests) 
• Mirror Mirror On The Wall, What’s My Best Idea N’all? (Deciding On Your Main Product) 
• I’ll Huff And I’ll Puff And I’ll Test My Idea (Feasibility Of Your Product) 
• 5 Magic Beans For Your Cow (Pricing Your Product And Budgeting) 
• Aladdin rubs the magic lamp (Fundraising and Sponsorship) 
• Selling The Emperor His New Clothes (Branding, Marketing, Communication) 
• Rapunzel, Rapunzel Throw Down Your Hair (Structures And Safety) 
• And The Ugly Duckling Became A Beautiful Swan (Signage And Presentation) 
• You Shall Go To The Ball Cinderella (Final Preparations for Market set up) 
• MARKET DAY
• And They All Lived Happily Ever After (Debrief: How Did You Go? What’s next?)

Lady Lily's Handmaids

Our two youngest participants were Cassie and Lily who were siblings of older participants and they did an excellent job, with a lot of support from mentors and parents.

This course is designed to develop the natural creative talents of the participants, and to give these skills a commercial application, so that children and their families can see the value of creativity and creative intelligence.

It was such a delight to see the local business community step up to the challenge and so generously offer support in many different ways.

Buttons in the Billabong

The most immediate involvement was to become a "Fairy Godmother" mentor. Thanks to the Ipswich Women in Business network, we had 5 mentors:

• Janette Adams of Precious Packages
• Louisa Janke of Vintage by Lou Lou
• Bonnie Wilkins of Blis Design
• Bec Lewis from Little Brown Dog
• Lorelle Mac from Wirey Beads

These mentors had a wide variety of artform expertise and business experience and were matched with Bambinos who had either a similar type of craft or was a match for the personalities involved.  Mentors attended workshops when they could, presented on one of the topics and kept in regular contact with the junior entrepreneurs to support them in their journey and assist with ideas, networks and advice.

Amelia Bobelia

Amelia Bobelia was generously supported by a "Golden Goose" sponsor, Miss Nina Rose Home Decor Consultants, who offered a scholarship position to a flood affected family. Amelia and her mum were thrilled by the opportunity and created gorgeous up-cycled candle holders, decorations and, the best sellers... wish jars! What a great idea Amelia Bobelia!

The Ipswich business community was very supportive of our Bambinos by providing vouchers for our Bambino's spend at their stores:

• ArtTime supplies
• Bargain Box Fabrics
• NewsXpress Riverlink

This in-kind funding really assisted the entrepreneurs in being able to create their products.
 

One of the revelations of the course was how unfamiliar children are with handling money and understanding its value, how to give change, etc. The finance content of the course proved a challenge in both designing age appropriate activities and for the children to grasp advanced topics such as pricing your product in a relatively short time frame. One the market day parents offered arms length support to assist Bambinos to make sales confidently.

Our market sponsor is Ruth from Rusco Markets who runs the Tivoli Market Bazaar, a fortnightly community market for new and pre-loved treasures.

The marquees, tables and chairs that housed our Bambinos on the day were kindly provided Tivoli Miracle Centre at Tivoli Drive-in

The Bambinos were welcomed and encouraged by the regular stall holders who visited their stalls and were very complimentary of their products and presentation.

A big part of the course for the junior entrepreneurs was identifying their community network so that they could assist their individual business through helping with resources and marketing and promotion. And their community turned out on market day to support them! Instant feedback!

The Bambinos operated as a small community of marketeers, helping each other and encouraging one another.

And they also bought products from one another. It was a truly cooperative and collaborative experience.

The result was overwhelming - sell out stalls, obvious growth in self-confidence from each of the participants, lots of inquiries about how to enrol in the next course... it was a Bambino Bonanza!

Melonhead

Kerryanne Farrer of Pineapple Productions

Bravo Bambinos - this Queen Bee of Pineapple Productions is proud as pineapple punch of each and every one of you! As they say the proof is in the pudding.

The next course starts on Thursday 21 July and continues for 10 weeks until 22 September, with a market day at Rusco Market Bazaar at Tivoli Drive-in on Saturday 17 September! Book in now as places are strictly limited! email bambinobazaar@gmail.com or phone Kerryanne on 0417 731 641

For more info visit Pineapple Productions




Bambino Bazaar is a 10-week course for junior creative entrepreneurs to learn the basics of small business through hand-crafted enterprise that culminates in running their own stall at a real live market. Designed specifically for 8-12 year olds from the Ipswich, West Brisbane and Lockyer Valley communities, it is Pineapple Production's goal to develop Bambino Bazaar as a regular feature on the Ipswich cultural calendar. It is envisaged that courses will run 3-4 times during each year.


Bambino Bazaar aims to:
•Provide opportunities for children to discover and explore their talents, dreams and abilities
•Assist participants to understand the basic principals of small business
•Improve self-confidence, self-respect and respect for others
•Inspire participants to engage in creative activities and enterprise on a regular basis
•Strengthen the bond between community, arts and business and enrich the lives of participants, facilitators, mentors, sponsoring businesses and local government
•Raise awareness of sustainable business practice


Bambino Bazaar’s multi-faceted curriculum will unfold within a safe, fun, creative environment, facilitated by a dynamic entrepreneur, alongside a host of experienced and vibrant mentors, guest speakers and business representatives in a child-friendly manner which promotes creative thinking and independent decision making.