Traditionally, summer is filled with sunshine, beaches, pools, picnics, ice cream and lemonade. With the lemonade, comes the opportunity for children to have lemonade stands. If you are a parent, you most likely hope to spend a portion of the summer preparing your child for the real world. After all, there is only so much that kids can learn in school. There is a lot to be said about the importance and value of school, but when it comes to some life lessons, certain things are better learned in ways that school does not offer.
Summer is the perfect time for children to harvest lessons that are difficult to grasp in a common classroom setting. Children learn in many different ways and are said to benefit from different learning styles. You do not need a textbook or a curriculum schedule to teach children a few of the most important life lessons of all.
With summer lemonade comes lemonade stands, run by children, clad in summer shorts and baseball caps, holding signs reading; Lemonade $1.00. The children set up on a street corner or in a park, run the lemonade stand from production, to sale, to clean up. Not only do the kids enjoy the process, but they learn many life lessons. They, for the first time, can learn what it means to need to spend money to make money, the importance of the location they choose to set up shop, lessons in patience and accountability, and the overall good feeling of doing something nice for others and your community.
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This summer, however, we are in the midst of a pandemic, and we are changing with the times and adapting to our new normal. However, traditions can be kept alive and lessons can still be taught with a virtual lemonade stand!
With technology on our side, we have been able to stay connected with each other through FaceTime, Google Hangouts, Zoom, and Skype. Kids have been virtually learning and staying connected online. On the brink of summer, we continue to practice social distancing, and all of this can be done while helping your children with a virtual lemonade stand.
Children can take photos, step-by-step of them making lemonade. This can teach them the core value of hard work (and how to make lemonade). From there, they can virtually take orders from friends, family, and neighbors through email or any virtual webcam application available. They can serve the lemonade to those that they are quarantined with. All the while, this process can be recorded, even with just a cell phone.
Even using Facebook, kids can advertise their virtual lemonade stand and can collect payment through Paypal or Venmo. They can track their own orders and can inform others how the profit funds will be used. The best part is, children can take orders, setting a delivery or pickup date for in the future when coronavirus is no longer a threat and it is safe to do so. Funds collected virtually can even be donated to a greater cause or charity, teaching kids about the importance of donations and supporting many causes and those in need.
With summer ahead, your kids do not need to miss out on the fun and learning experiences of a lemonade stand. When life gives you lemons…go virtual!