At just 12 and 8 years old, Elizabeth and Benjamin Tay have already done something many adults only dream about — they’ve built a community.
Not one with thousands of employees or investors, but one powered by children, cardboard, crafts and kindness.
Source: Smolboss website
The siblings are the founders of SmolBoss, a youth-led initiative that encourages children to volunteer, create and lead community projects of their own.
The initiative almost sounds ordinary, until you realise how extraordinary their journey has been.
Long before SmolBoss existed, Elizabeth was simply a little girl who liked lemonade.
One day, while walking outside, she noticed several migrant workers resting under the scorching Singapore sun.
“They looked very uncomfortable,” she recalled.
So she asked herself a simple question: How could she help?
Instead of letting the thought pass, five-year-old Elizabeth decided to make lemonade for them.
Together with her family, she learnt how to write sponsorship letters, secured fruit sponsorship from Sheng Siong, and set up a lemonade stand at a migrant worker dormitory.
Source: Smolboss website
Her mother, Cherry, told MS News that she remembered wondering how one child planned to serve about 1,000 workers.
But Elizabeth already had an answer — she wanted to ask friends for help.
That was the moment Cherry realised this wasn’t simply a child’s passing idea.
“If we give them the freedom… they surprise us all the time,” Cherry said, recalling how the family rallied sponsors, volunteers and the wider community to make the project happen.
Thousands eventually queued for lemonade and fruits that day.
Source: Smolboss website
The experience planted a seed not just in Elizabeth, but in everyone around her.
Years later, Elizabeth realised something while volunteering. Most of the volunteers around her were adults.
Although she enjoyed giving back, she felt it would be more meaningful if children could volunteer alongside peers their own age.
That conversation with her mother eventually became SmolBoss.
Instead of waiting for opportunities to appear, Elizabeth decided to create one herself — a community where children could learn to lead while serving others together.
Source: Smolboss website
The name carries a simple message.
“No matter your age… you still can be a boss,” Elizabeth explained. To her, being a “boss” means stepping up as a leader and helping others.
Benjamin soon joined his older sister in paving the way for youth volunteers in Singapore.
Both siblings sought to help others, with their empathy fuelled partly by their experiences.
Benjamin was once hospitalised after breaking both his arms, becoming unable to move freely.
“When my arm was broken, I was really bored… Now I understand how people in hospital feel,” he said.
Meanwhile, Elizabeth also found herself thinking differently after experiencing her own hospital stay.
“I feel I can empathise with people in nursing homes and other people who are hospitalised,” she shared.
For many people, painful experiences remain personal memories.
For the Tay siblings, they became motivation.
Source: @thesmolboss on Instagram
Benjamin has been described as the “Cardboard King”, a specialist in creating cardboard activities and toys to make life less boring for seniors and patients.
One senior participant enjoyed one of his creations so much that they asked if they could keep it. Benjamin happily agreed.
While her brother builds, Elizabeth expanded SmolBoss into a platform where more children could volunteer alongside her.
This year, the siblings were a part of the 12 children from nine different schools who “took over” a nursing home.
Game Carnival 2.0 saw the children sharing their favourite games with seniors through various stations and booths.
And this year, Benjamin’s cardboard creations became even more ambitious.
Source: Smolboss website
Working alongside his mother, Benjamin incorporated simple engineering concepts and electronic sensors into handmade games, transforming cardboard into interactive activities.
To him, though, the goal remains wonderfully uncomplicated.
“It’s fun to play, and it’s fun to make,” he told MS News.
For Elizabeth, however, this year’s carnival saw her stepping into a mentorship role.
She brainstormed activities, organised volunteers, and briefed other children helping at each booth so every senior has someone to chat with while taking part.
Source: Smolboss website
This year’s iteration of SmolBoss’ Game Carnival revolved around the theme STEM for Good, combining hands-on science with community service.
For Elizabeth, the concept is about showing children that what they learn in classrooms can have real-world purpose.
“I feel having a way to put these skills to good use is pretty cool and interesting,” she said.
Cherry believes that’s exactly what makes the initiative special.
Rather than separating science from service, the family encourages the children to combine both.
Benjamin experimented with sensors that could count points in his games, while Elizabeth researched different soap materials before selecting goat’s milk soap suitable for seniors participating in the workshop.
Source: Smolboss website
Cherry is careful not to take credit for SmolBoss, describing the projects as entirely kid-led.
At home, Elizabeth and Benjamin come up with the ideas.
The adults simply provide the tools, ask questions and help solve problems when needed.
“We just support in terms of resources,” she explained. “They’re the ones who execute the idea from start to end.”
Her advice to parents is equally straightforward.
Instead of dismissing children’s ideas, ask more questions, help them think through challenges, and allow them to experiment.
“My advice to parents is that do not keep questions unanswered, because every question will lead to bigger questions and bigger answers,” she told MS News.
After all, she admitted she was initially sceptical about Benjamin’s cardboard inventions too — until they became some of the most popular activities.
Source: Smolboss website
Despite everything they’ve accomplished, Elizabeth and Benjamin remain unmistakably children.
Throughout the interview, they giggled, teased each other, argued over butterflies and stumbled through answers before helping each other finish sentences.
It’s precisely that authenticity that makes SmolBoss feel different.
This isn’t a polished corporate volunteer programme.
It’s childhood, channelled into kindness.
Source: @thesmolboss on Instagram
Elizabeth hopes more children realise they don’t need to wait until they’re adults before making a difference.
“No matter your age, you still can help out,” she said, encouraging other children to reach out to volunteer organisations if they want to get started.
The name SmolBoss may be playful.
But after spending a day with its founders, it becomes clear that it also carries quiet conviction.
Sometimes, the smallest bosses really do inspire the biggest changes.
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Featured image courtesy of MS News and adapted from Smolboss website.