007. Lemonade Stands - The Iconic Summer Nostalgia
And why you should create one with your child
I felt like doing a lighter summer topic this week, especially with all the heavier topics lately and the summer heat. And what a better, refreshing topic to talk about than lemonade stands!
As many of my friends know, this summer we started doing pop-up “lemonade stands” with my daughter, and it has been quite the fun learning and memory-making experience! When I was a kid, I’m not sure why one of my favorite pretend-play games was to set up a pretend lemonade stand to sell pretend lemonade. I remembered using a rolling suitcase as my stand and pulling up the telescopic handle to serve as my window to serve lemonade from! (This was around age 6 or 7.)
I never actually did a real lemonade stand on my own—partly because I never asked, but also partly because I assumed my parents didn’t have the time or interest to help me do one. But part of the fun of being a parent is being able to live out your childhood dreams that you never manifested before, right?!
The Back Story
Cue the Duck Song.
If you’ve never heard this song before, listen to it. It’s so catchy and funny and cute! Even adults will love it. It’s about a duck who walks up to a lemonade stand and asks to buy grapes instead—ridiculously cute. I digress. My daughter heard this song randomly on one of those music shuffles in the car, and we all loved it so much that we made it a regular song.
Then one day at school, a mama sent her child with a bunch of lemons from their backyard to share. The teachers decided to make a learning experience out of it, and all the kids helped to squeeze lemons to make lemonade! My daughter came home and told me all about it and how fun it was. Turns out she also discovered she liked lemonade—go figure.
That’s when she asked me, “Hey mommy, can we squeeze our own lemons and make a lemonade stand and I can sell it??”
I was shocked she wanted to sell it because really, what does she know about money and selling anything? But it stirred up my own nostalgia for my childhood pretend lemonade stand, and I said, “Okay, why not? But you’ll have to help me!”
How We Prepped to Set Up & Recipes
The first time we did this, I decided on a random whim to do it one weekend day when I was solo parenting. The weather forecast happened to be moderately warm day, and I told my husband about the idea the day before. On second thought, I asked my parents to come over to help me on the day of. (They actually thought it was a pretend lemonade stand until they saw we were seriously going to sell it…lol!)
We scrambled to get some things together and made a list with my daughter of what we needed to get. My mother-in-law donated a bunch of lemons from her backyard so we had plenty of lemons to squeeze. The recipe I used called for 9-10 lemons! I didn’t know how many people would come by, but I wanted to have enough to go around, so we erred on the side of a little more. And I definitely recommend making a simple syrup to stir in, rather than trying to dissolve straight up sugar in the lemon juice/water. (I use a 3/4c sugar to 1c water.)
We went to Target to get some of the things we didn’t have, and we told my daughter we would be using her Chinese New Year red envelope money to pay for supplies. She helped to scan items and pay at the self-check out because we wanted her to have some ownership of her idea (and to understand that making money wasn’t easy).
Basic List of Ingredients
Lemons
Sugar
Water
Ice cubes
Basic List of Supplies
Measuring cups/spoons
Juicer
Pitcher—I recommend one with a lid so your littles can pour from it and avoid some spills
Table
Cooler
Cups—we used 9 oz cups, but keep in mind ice takes up some space
Napkins
A sign!
Bonus Items we put out:
Pop up tent for shade and cooling items (I was a big fan of this portable fan with a mister that my husband got)
Chairs for visitors —these lawn chairs are super cute for little kids
Bubble machines & wands
My daughter’s job on the day before was to help make signs! She had a lot of fun with this. On the morning of, she helped me squeeze lemons into a juicer and measure and stir sugar for a simple syrup to mix in. Juicing 10 lemons was a workout as she soon realized, but making money isn’t easy!
Side note: I highly recommend a Kitchen Helper of some sort to let your littles assist you at the kitchen counters! (We’ve had ours since she was 18 months and I love it!)
Recruiting Customers
My job the day before was getting the word out to some local friends and schoolmates that we were going to be doing this. I texted some local friends as well as some of my daughter’s classmate’s moms and so many of them were down to swing by! Our neighborhood was also really supportive and some of them dropped by to say how they remembered hosting their own lemonade stand at the corner of the street when they were growing up!
I recommend you can also set up near a local park when they have soccer or baseball game days, as many people suggested to go there to get more customers. For me, it was really more about having fun and so we kept it in the neighborhood and informed local friends who we knew were close by.
To be honest, it was kind of a fun drive-by mini play date with our stand, where friends/schoolmates could swing by with their kids to grab refreshments, play a bit outside, and then head on out!
What Skills you can Teach with a Lemonade Stand
When I really thought about it, there were quite a lot of lessons you can teach with a lemonade stand! Maybe that’s why it’s still a popular (and yummy) learning activity.
Math—currencies and value of money
We taught her what quarters were the day before, and how many quarters made up a dollar. Since we set the lemonade at 50 cents, I was hoping she’d realize that 2 cups would equal a dollar. Somehow it seemed like she did—or she just got really lucky at guessing! I didn’t expect her to get it right now, but this is great for slightly older kids and just to start introducing coins and money to kids.
Science—dissolving sugar in hot water to make simple syrup
An experiment you can compare is trying to dissolve sugar in cold water and having your child observe how much harder it is!
Salesmanship
Learning to promote your products and how to set prices can be something to incorporate for older kids. At 4, my daughter was too young to understand this, but I see how there is value for older children!
Customer Service
This lemonade stand was really my daughter’s idea to begin with, but when it came down to greeting customers or trying to sell her lemonade, she got a bit overwhelmed when there were too many people at her table (because many of our lovely friends showed up)! But as the day progressed, she got better at talking to people to offer pours/napkins and collecting money. Definitely a work in progress, even after doing this a few times, but I think it’s a great opportunity to learn some customer service skills!
Patience —Sometimes customers/friends didn’t come right away! We had to let our little one experience waiting and figuring out how to self-entertain while bored. Boredom is highly underrated—it’s good for them!
What I Took Away from our Lemonade Stands
The best part of all this experience for me, (besides watching my child have a blast with her friends and drinking all the lemonade instead of selling it lol) was how it gave me a really nice sense of community. For how last-minute of an idea it was, I was shocked and touched at how many friends showed up for my daughter.
And even more touching that I never expected, my best friend 300 miles away creatively Venmo-ed me money to buy my daughter an extra cup of lemonade for herself! A few other friends also did the same in subsequent events when they were far away or couldn’t come, which just blew me away. This whole thing absolutely wasn’t about making any money, but I really felt the love from all around. And it reminded me of just how far we have come in slowly building up a village. =*)
Even in subsequent pop up stands, we still had some repeat neighbors and friends trickle by, and it just totally warmed my mama heart when my daughter would light up at a visitor. It was also a fun excuse for us to meet schoolmates’ families or to catch up with our friends, while getting some outdoor fresh air.
Anyway, there’s no major breakthrough message to all this except that I wanted to say—lemonade stands are pretty cool, and I’m really glad it was an activity for family bonding and to bring friends together! Thank you to all my wonderful friends for your love and support, near and far, if you’re reading this. <3
I know our lemonade stand was a bit extra, but you really don’t need much. The whole concept is simply wonderful, and I hope this might inspire someone else to try a lemonade stand with their kid(s). Here’s to creating some humble, nostalgic summer memories. =)
xo,
Jas
P.S. I’ll be announcing an exciting new project in the next month! Stay tuned (or subscribe to my newsletters if you haven’t already) to hear it first. Thanks, as always, for reading. :)