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What all started as an idea for a lemonade stand turned into a one-of-a-kind family business sharing four young boys' talents with the Brazos Valley. Now a year later, the Toth boys have begun to learn the essentials of business through what they call the Toth Tribe Adventures.
Starting at the Kids Craft Show at the Benjamin Knox Gallery in College Station, the boys art has taken off allowing them to participate in various shows and pop-ups around town including First Fridays in Downtown Bryan.
Since they homeschool, the children are able to plan time to work on projects for upcoming exhibitions as well as for orders through their website, their mother Melanie says.
“Whenever they did the kids crafts show, we were going to sell paracord” Melanie says. I've gotten into painting and so I used a website I know to incorporate into our homeschooling. So instead of having a bazillion art projects around their house, they decided that they could sell them at the kids crafts show.”
Each sibling has their speciality allowing the business to have a variety of paintings and products including paracord bracelets, and 3-D printed and custom painted potted plants to offer to customers. In addition to all the work they have for sale, they also do custom work.
“Now that they've seen how it impacts people, and whenever people come up and say, ‘Oh my gosh, you painted this’, I feel like that really boosts their self confidence and it motivates them to want to continue doing it,” Melanie says.
The oldest brother Jayden, age 11, specializes in sports silhouettes, which he says are his favorite type to paint. He also does a lot of work with the paracord bracelets, spending his time working on them while listening to audiobooks.
“My mom and me look at websites that offer free images, print them off to see if they are manageable to paint and then add some fun details like if it's a silhouette moose then we add a sunset around it or something,” Jayden says.
Specializing in sea creatures, 9-year old Liam says his favorite paintings to make are of jellyfish and whales because he likes the sea and swimming.
“I like making things blend into it and I like seeing the big picture,” Liam says.
Six year old Zander’s speciality is galaxy bear paintings, and he also helps manage the plants including painting some of the pots.
“I like doing the details and to make dots on it and paint it in,” Zander says.
Even three-year-old Axel has gotten in on the family fun. He primarily helps with filling all of the potted plants with dirt and has recently started to paint as well. He says filling the plants is “hard work”.
To help teach them about running a business, the boys are in charge of sales and answering customer questions. Since starting out, both Melanie and their father, Eric, have seen the boys grow socially through working with customers.
“In the earlier days, I really had to keep encouraging them to get them out in front of the booth to talk to people and bring them in to see their art. More recently the boys will get out and talk to people about their art without as much prompting from me,” Eric says. “Many people that walk by the booth think that as parents we did the artwork and the kids are just helping us. I like the looks on peoples faces when we get to explain that the kids did most of the artwork, and that we as parents are just helping them.”
Not only do the boys earn money for themselves, at the end of a show they divide the money into three categories: spending money, saving and money to donate to charities. So far the boys have chosen to donate to: the Equipped App, an app created to help people find Christian events in their town; Sleep in Heavenly Peace; Compassion International to help build wells for people who need clean water; and Lo-Profile, a ministry to the homeless. They also have recently donated to K-Love in one of their recent campaigns.
“They’ve given a lot of their art, bracelets, and plants away to various other people they’ve worked with. They also donate to various organizations and that is the part I like to see the most,” Eric says. To see their generosity and their giving hearts Is one of the greatest things for a father to see.”
For more information visit their website at tothtribeadventures.com.
Meet the Tribe
Jayden
I am 11 years old. I am an entrepreneur and always coming up with new ideas. I also love books. I normally listen to audiobooks while I create. I love building legos, wood working with my hand tools, and painting. I have made crosses, bird feeders and bird houses, as well as paracord bracelets with really cool buckles and watercolor paintings. I specialize in the sports themed paintings. My latest hobby is 3D printing.
Liam
I'm 9 years old. I enjoy watercoloring the most in my family. I love sports, being outside, and rock climbing. One of my favorite things to do is to be out in nature either swimming, cutting down trees, or enjoying time at the deer lease. Being homeschooled gives me the opportunity to learn art and business from my parents.
Zander
I am 6 years old. I enjoy painting too, my specialities are the galaxy paintings. I have sold over 35 galaxy bear paintings, they are my top seller. My mom helps me a little with the fine details in my paintings. I love nature and exploring and I work hard to keep up with my older brothers. I'm tough and determined. I'm always looking for cool creatures and new things to observe. I help with painting the mugs for the plants and planting the beautiful flowers and succulents.
Axel
Axel, age 3, is funny, cute and tough. He joins us in all our adventures, He's the kid that gets down on his hands and knees to observe the tiniest of creatures. He mostly helps with filling the pots with dirt, and he's really good at that. Before we know it he too will be creating amazing things.
