Teaching Children About Money – Lemonade Stand Games

Lemonade stands can be a simple way to teach children about money as well as some basic business ideas. But lemonade stands aren’t an option for everyone or at all times of year. What if you don’t live in area with many neighbors or much traffic? What if it’s the middle of winter?

A lemonade stand game can be a great option. Not only does it keep the mess and cost down, it can also be done any time of year in any location. That’s almost perfect in my book. There are a number of free online lemonade stand games. To get the most out of these online games and to teach your kids in the process, look for these key elements.

The ability to choose the price per cup. Being able to determine and change how much to charge per cup is a key part of making a business work. Nearly every game I have seen includes this feature and makes it relative to what ingredients cost.
A budget that you have to stay within so that you can’t buy inventory or you can’t really afford. Budgeting is a key skill in everyday life as well as in business. Having kids experience it in the context of a game is a good way to either introduce or reinforce this money concept. The items that are included in the game’s budget may differ from game to game but that is less important than having the budget be part of the game in general. Additionally, some games include advertising as part of the budget. This is a more advanced version for older kids who can manage with more business variables.
A weather forecast in advance to allow for price adjustments as well as buying inventory such as lemons, ice and cups. Not all games consider weather in as a factor but several do both in terms of temperature and sun or rain. Since a lemonade stand can be highly weather dependent, having weather as a variable is a great idea especially for older kids. Younger kids may find this distracting or too overwhelming.
Daily reports on how much you lemonade was made, what was sold and whether there was a net profit. The idea then is to use this information to adjust the following days production and pricing to generate more sales and less wasted product. Even if your kids don’t use the reports for planning the next day, reviewing them to see what happened can be entertaining and educational. They can see what sold and how much they made (or lost).
Time frame options that allow for shorter games. Some games require the game to run for 30 days. Others give the option of shorter times of 7 or 14 days. While a “day” for these games can last only minutes, thirty days can get repetitive and may not hold the attention of younger kids. Having shorter time frames creates flexibility and still allows for kids to fully complete their lemonade business and not just look at daily reports.

Lemonade stand games are easy to find by doing a quick search online. Involve your kids in the search and see what they are drawn to. The goal in teaching children about money is finding something that excites them and makes them want to learn. Online money games can be a great way to do that.