The kids (mine and the daycare kids) wanted to do a lemonade stand this summer. I didn't feel completely comfortable letting 7 kids sit on a curb selling lemonade to strangers, so I compromised and instead they did a lemonade stand in the backyard, selling lemonade to each other. The lemonade stand turned into Lemonade Stand At The Farmer's Market because 4 of the kids helped me set up the morning of.
A LOT of lemonade was drank throughout the day (it was sugar free, that I made sure of!) and the kids had a blast!
There were quite a few lemonade spills, so I made it a bit easier for them. I pre-poured numerous cups of lemonade for them to sell to each other. There were still a few dropped cups, but at least it wasn't the entire pitcher!
The kids quickly decided the best way to play was to have one kid check out and another kid be the "waiter" who put lids and straws on all of the cups and handed out napkins. They needed some help remember to take turns in these roles, but overall they did well playing together.
Baskets and crates to shop for their fruit and veggies at the Farmer's Market.
A snack of applesauce and lemonade....lots and lots of lemonade. My bathroom got a work out this day.
I have no idea what this little two year old had set up, but she was off playing in her own little world.
The biggest messes with this was the lemonade pouring, the stickiness of the lemonade, and the pennies. TONS of pennies wound up on the patio, but the older kids did a good job counting out change and helping the younger kids count out the correct amount. I also realized, that while these six year old have had a bit of an introduction to money and counting, they still don't quite grasp it yet. I realized this when they tried to charge another kids $5,013 for a spear of asparagus and then told the child that was equivalent to three pennies. Maybe we should have worked a bit harder on that section of their workbooks....
Next summer we may attempt to do an actual lemonade stand when the kids are all another year older. At least I know they'll have their lines down for it: "here's your lemonade. I'll take your money. Have a good day!"
