Looking for a creative and fun activity for your kids that will get them away from the Wii? An old-fashioned lemonade stand is always a fun idea. Thanks, in part, to the great book, The Lemonade War by Jacqueline Davies, my daughters have been inspired. They love to create posters and sell lemonade and Girl Scout cookies or homemade brownies. They seem to get more creative every time they set up their stand. And the empowerment they get from doing it (mostly) on their own is great.
Marketing
Have the kids paint/draw signage to display around the block to promote the sale. Big, bold elements work most effectively here. Let them think and get creative. For example, my daughter Hope wrote: “Free water with every box of girl scout cookies!”
Entertainment
Help them write a lemonade song or choreograph a hot-weather dance to entertain patrons or relieve the boredom on a slow sale day.
Profit
Teach them “Lemonade Math”: $ Earned – $ Spent = Profit
Financial Responsibility
At the end of the day, acknowledge all of their hard work and then plan what to do with the profit.
We usually go by the 1⁄3 rule of thumb: 1⁄3 charity, 1⁄3 save and 1⁄3 spend.
Product Expansion
You don’t have to stick to just lemonade and cookies:
Fruity Frozen Hand Popsicle
- Pour your favorite juice into latex surgical gloves (powder-free).
- Knot them at the end around a popsicle stick.
- Pop them into the freezer overnight.
- Cut the glove to remove and voila! Fruity Frozen Hands
(store in a cooler at the lemonade stand).
Great Grape Necklaces
- Wash a variety of green, purple and red grapes.
- Poke a hole (lengthwise) in each grape with a shish kebab skewer.
- String the grapes on a plastic lanyard, alternating colors.
- Knot the lanyard to close the circle to the desired length.
- Spritz with a mixture of fresh lemon juice, a little agave and mint.
You can also raise $ for the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund (OCRF). For every stand opened, Electrolux will donate $1 to the OCRF. You can also help the cause even more by buying and sending virtual glasses of lemonade to your friends and family, with 100% of the proceeds benefiting OCRF [click HERE for more info]
CHEERS!
