Lemonade Stand Ideas for Young Entrepreneurs: 100 Days of Play

I’m thrilled to be joining Sun Scholars and 99 other bloggers for 100 Days of Play! Need play ideas? Please join us as we explore ideas for playful learning!

With nice weather finally arriving in New England, I’ve seen numerous lemonade stand ideas pop up in my neighborhood. It’s been fun to support the neighborhood kids and sample their wares. Some have been selling lemonade and brownies. Others have more traditional stands.

One thing that struck me is how much the pricing varies. I thought I would teach entrepreneurial finance for kids today for my 100 Days of Play contribution by looking at pricing your [successful] lemonade stand.

Pricing Lemonade for Your Stand

COGS = Cost of Goods Sold

There’s nothing like an acronym to make something seem difficult. Let’s talk about how much you should charge for your lemonade stand.

Step 1: What are your ingredient costs?

We’re going to start with basic cost accounting, which is to say, “How much does it cost you (assuming you had to pay for it yourself?”

water: Let’s assume the water is free from the tap.

ice: Let’s assume you’re getting ice from your freezer and not buying it from the grocery store.

sugar: I’m going to guess that it takes just a few tablespoons of sugar to make one quart of lemonade.

GRANULATED SUGAR:

• I bought a 5-lb. bag for $1.89.
• $1.89 / 5 = $0.378 per pound of sugar
• 2.25 cups = 1 lb.
• $0.378 / 2.25 = $0.168 per cup of sugar
• 1 cup = 16 tablespoons
• $0.168 / 16 = $0.0105 per tablespoon

So … one tablespoon of sugar is basically a penny.

lemons: The price of lemons varies from 50 cents to $1 per lemon, I’m guessing. Let’s say you use two lemons and they each cost $2.

Note that lemons are your most expensive item. We call that a “cost driver” because it basically determines the cost of your final product, in this case, a glass of lemonade.

I know there are entrepreneurial kids out there thinking things like:

• I can grow my own lemons for FREE! Yes! Great idea. Then your cost is just sugar and you have a cash machine!
• I can buy lemons in bulk to save money! You are thinking like an entrepreneur! Yes!!!
• I can buy lemons on sale. That works for me!

cups: Are you going to use disposable paper or plastic cups? If so, you’ll have to add in the cost for these. Or maybe you can use non-disposable cups from your house?

A pitcher of lemonade is going to cost about $2. How many cups can you get from it? It depends on the cup size but a pitcher typically holds 4 pints or 8 cups.

$2/8 cups (or more if you use small Dixie cups) = $.25

In other words, our COGS (Cost of Goods Sold) for one cup of lemonade is a quarter.

You can see that my son is selling lemonade at cost. He is using very small cups so he might be getting 12 cups and since they are not disposable, he doesn’t have the additional cost for the cup. Still, if he had to buy his own ingredients, he would be making … NOTHING!

In the restaurant business, you typically charge a mark up the food cost by 400%. So, if the cup of lemonade costs YOU $.25, you’d charge $.25 x 4 = $1 per cup.

Does this seem like too much? Well, you don’t have the same costs that a restaurant has like paying rent or hiring staff, so you can mark up your lemonade less if you like. How about by 200%?

$.25 x 2 = $.50 per cup

Of course, pricing is also what the market can bear. When PickyKidPix and Grasshopper and Sensei ran their lemonade stand, they charged $1 per cup (with the tiniest paper Dixie cup that you use for brushing your teeth) and gave a nickel rebate. That was their promotion. They made a lot of money that day too!

Lemonade Stand Ideas for Young Entrepreneurs Picture Books

Peg + Cat: The Lemonade Problem by Jennifer Oxley and Billy Aronson

It’s not easy to run a lemonade stand, especially when you are bartering for marbles. Pricing is hard to figure out. When Peg and Cat’s business picks up, they have another problem. No cups! More bartering is required in a complex transaction of cups for cookies, red peppers, and dancing. Peg and Cat learn that running a business requires fast and flexible problem-solving skills. Young entrepreneurs will relate to the unforeseen challenges of running a lemonade stand! [picture book, ages 4 and up]

The Monster Money Book by Loreen Leedy

If your child likes money or wants to learn more, I really like The Monster Money Book which goes over basic entrepreneurial concepts just like our pricing the lemonade exercise but in a more fun way. [picture book, ages 3 and up]

The Lemonade War (The Lemonade War Series) by Jacqueline Davies

Here’s my chapter book recommendation that just happens to have a lemonade stand theme. In this case, it’s war! Two competing lemonade stands on the same street. Not only is this a great book that kids love, but it also has some marketing concepts slipped in! Play can be so educational! [chapter book, ages 8 and up]

Question for you: Are they pricing their lemonade correctly?!

Help us
spread the word!

Grab a Button to Share on your Blog!

100 Days of Play is brought to you by these wonderful bloggers

SunScholars. Frogs, Snails & Puppy Dog Tails. Playful Learners. Train Up a Child. Fantastic Fun & Learning. Scribble, Doodle & Draw. Learn. Create. Love. Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas. Nothing if Not Intentional. My Little 3 & Me. Buggy & Buddy. Sun Hats & Wellie Boots. Twodaloo. True Aim. The Educators’ Spin On It . Blog Me Mom. Life At The Zoo. Putti’s World. Kitchen Counter Chronicles. Triple T Mum. Busy Kids Happy Mom. Crystal’s Tiny Treasures. Rainy Day Mum. Momma’s Fun World. My Little Bookcase. Craftulate. One Perfect Day. MumCentral. Artchoo! . Creative World Of Varya. Simple. Home. Blessings. JDaniel4’s Mom. NurtureStore. Me & Marie Learning. Child Central Station. Mamas Like Me. Mama Miss. Making Boys Men. Powerful Mothering. Craft to Art. 3 Dinosaurs. Domestic Goddesque. Lessons Learnt Journal. Royal Baloo. Smiling Like Sunshine. Adventures at Home with Mum. B-Inspired Mama. PragmaticMom. Eazy Peazy Mealz. Gluesticks. TheBoy&Me . Learning is Messy. My Nearest & Dearest. Growing Book by Book. How to Run a Home Daycare. Here Come the Girls. Think Magnet. Dandelions Picked. 123 Homeschool 4 Me. Our Ordinary Life. Parenting with Professor Poppins . 2 Little Hooligans. Fun-a-Day! . The Non-Martha Mamma. Angelique Felix. My Very Educated Mother. Creative Playhouse. Go Explore Nature. Zing Zing Tree. Sense of Wonder. Childhood 101. Crayon Freckles. KZ & Me. Serenity You. This Mumma’s Life. Leapfrog & Ladybugs. Blue Bear Wood. Growing Together. KC EDventures. Mommy Lessons 101. Nature & Play. Like Mama Like Daughter. Mums Make Lists. From Wine to Whine. Messy Kids. Babble Dabble Do. Sugar Aunts. Teaching @ Home. Preschool Powol Packets. Clothed in Love. Curiosity Creates. The Magnolia Barn. Strong Start. Stay-at-Home Mom Survival Guide. Learn with Play at Home. Mummy… Mummy… MUM! Science Sparks. Toddler Approved. Thrive 360 Living. Rockabye Butterfly. Mud Hut Mama. Coffee Cups & Crayons. Playing with Words 365. My Lil Love Bugs. Creative Connections for Kids. LalyMom. Love, Play, Learn. Kindergarten & Preschool for Parents & Teachers. The Pleasantest Thing. Teach Beside Me 

p.s. In case you wonder if kids can be taxed for their lemonade stand profits, the answer is YES! But you need to make a profit of $400 or more.

 

To examine any of the items listed, please click on image of item.

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

 

Follow PragmaticMom’s board Personal Finance for Kids on Pinterest.

Follow PragmaticMom’s board Parenting Village on Pinterest.

 

My books:

 Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me

Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me

Food for the Future: Sustainable Farms Around the World

• Junior Library Guild Gold selection
• Massachusetts Book Award Long List
• Selected as one of 100 Outstanding Picture Books of 2023 by dPICTUS and featured at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair
• Starred review from School Library Journal
• Chicago Library’s Best of the Best
• 2023 INDIES Book of the Year Awards Finalist
• Green Earth Book Award Long List
• Imagination Soup’s 35 Best Nonfiction Books of 2023 for Kids

 Amazon / Barefoot Books / Signed or Inscribed by Me

Amazon / Scholastic / Signed or Inscribed by Me