By Rosemarie, Brianna & Royce Rutecki, with Ayla & River Thornton
What started with “what to do with $40” ended as a summer week business experience. My kids and their two neighbors’ friends decided to start their first business, a lemonade stand.
What the kids learned doing this activity
- Planning, how to start a business from scratch
- Materials needed to build stand and products
- Location, how to find the right place to get more traffic
- Marketing, using social media to let the community know
- Communication, talking and offering products to the costumers
- Math, adding and giving change back
- Manners, being kind to customers
- Responsibility, showing up on time and having everything ready for the day
- Enjoying the process, they had a lot of fun
- Grateful for their neighbor’s and parents ‘support
It was an excellent experience for the kids, and we are so thankful to live in the Parkland Ranches; we got to learn more and meet new neighbors.
The Spectator Magazine loved what the kids did and how supportive the community was that they wanted us to write an article. The kids were so excited about the opportunity of being in a Magazine, and I told them, how about you guys write the article? They jumped on board quickly—what an excellent opportunity for creative writing.
Now hear from the kids:
A couple of weeks ago, we went to Sky Zone when we stumbled upon $40 in the foam pit. On the drive home, we were discussing what to do with the money and how we could turn it into more. “How about a Lemonade Stand?” River said. We all thought it was a great idea, but we couldn’t come up with anything else.
The next couple of days, we hammered out a plan. What the stand should look like, what to sell, and who will be in charge of what.
At the Rutecki construction, we found quite a few wood scraps we could use for the stand. Brianna and Royce’s dad helped us build the frame. After a few trips to Home Depot, a few bottles of spray paint, tons of nails, and four wheels later, our masterpiece was finished.
Now, it was time to get the products done. Rainbow loom bracelets and stress balls came first. Then we moved into Ayla and River’s kitchen and baked up a storm. Gluten-free pumpkin muffins, gluten-free chocolate chip cookies, snickerdoodle cookies, and regular chocolate chip cookies. We made sure everything tasted delicious and tried the dough and the finished products.
On Sunday, it was time to make the lemonade. We added some blood oranges to make it pink. We squeezed and squeezed and added sugar and maple syrup until we had the perfect mix.
With that, we opened our stand. Many neighbors stopped by to get a cup of lemonade or a cookie. One of our favorite customers was a horse who also seemed to enjoy the lemonade. We are grateful for this neighborhood and the support it showed us.