Some experts say hosting a lemonade stand has many benefits for kids, including teamwork, community organizing and learning financial concepts.
Preschoolers at the University of Nevada Reno’s Child and Family Research Center learned some of those benefits this week and are seeing the fruits of their labor.
The Quadrangle at UNR was the place to be Thursday morning as preschool-aged children and their teachers put together their own lemonade stand. Proceeds will go to buying books for their program, but that wasn’t the main goal.
Educators at the center said the goal of the lemonade stand was to teach the children different real-world skills such as teamwork, cooperation, awareness of currency, and how to follow a recipe.
“This project began with the children playing ‘lemonade stand’ on the playground, likely because one of the children had been to a lemonade stand, hosted one at their home, or another simple exposure to the concept,” said Jenna Dewar, a lecturer in the university’s Human Development and Family Studies department.
Dewar credited center educator Rosy Harris with identifying the opportunity for the lemonade stand.
“In class, we read a book called ‘Froggy’s Lemonade Stand,’” Harris, an early childhood educator at the CFRC, said. “When I heard the children saying ‘Let’s get some more lemonade ready, there’s more customers coming,’ I was so proud of them seeing these connections made from reading a book and our conversations together.”
Dewar added that Harris’ willingness to be a “present and engaged educator” was vital to the children making these connections.
“They read books in class about lemonade stands, had group discussions to develop understanding and share experiences, and step-by-step the children were enabled to turn their ideas into this project,” Dewar said.
The practice of putting up their own lemonade stand helps children learn through play and inquiry-based learning, the educators said. After the children expressed interest in this on their own, their teacher used that idea to bring this actual stand to fruition.
Before Thursday’s event, the preschoolers held a practice run on July 19 where the 3- and 4-year-olds were able to hand out both yellow and pink lemonade and get acquainted with what they were going to do Thursday.
The children helped in making the lemonade, taking the money and storing it, as well as communicating with the customers.
