To let the kids setup a lemonade stand?

[Thenonstopcleaner]

DS and DD 9 & 7 are begging me to allow them to set up a lemonade stand this weekend. Some little kids on our street were selling their toys the other day just for pocket money and we bought some bits from them. So I am guessing this is where the idea has came from! I have said the only way I will let them do it is if the money goes to charity.
Both not happy about that at all! But that’s the only way.

Im not 100% keen on the idea and I know DH will flat out say no. Is it a bit cruel to say no?They aren’t very confident kids so I think it would be great for them.

(I remember painting nails for 20p out the front at a kid but everyone seemed much kinder back then).

Should have said (To not allow them to setup a lemonade stand)

I think it depends on what the place you live is like for things like this. Where we live kids do things like this all the time, especially in the school holidays, selling little wristbands they have made, selling cups of juice, selling old toys etc all at the end of drive ways and I think its lovely! But where my sister lives it would be a big no no, so depends!

I find it a bit odd when people encourage children to sell stuff outside their house etc.

Generally speaking most people have too much stuff so the market for old toys, books etc is poor, lots of parents don't want their kids buying sweets& cake.

I see dejected looking kids trying this where I live, no one ever buys much and it makes passers by feel a bit awkward/pressured.

Also we never have cash! Even my 6 year old mainly pays with card.

Can’t say I’d buy lemonade from a random stall.

But I guess some people must.

Oh dear

I've only ever seen a lemonade stand in American cartoons from the 1960s. Snoopy, etc.

Is it a thing? Do kids make the lemonade, or is it just pouring Tesco/Schweppes stuff into a plastic cup and selling it? I can't imagine anyone stopping at the side of the road to purchase.

Things like this are reasonably common in my neighbourhood. Don't think it would work on my street though... not enough passersby, and don't really know many people on the street. I think it probably works better where there is a close knit community, lots of kids and an active whatsapp or Facebook group.

I think it’s very American.

Are you really planning to make lemonade for scratch? Do the kids know that American lemonade is not like UK lemonade?

I agree with @Imicola. If you were going to facilitate it could you do a middle ground, like end of term (or half term) thing, text the school WhatsApp and say DC1&2 will be selling homemade lemonade/cakes/cookies whatever in the local park/playground after school to raise money for x (could be charity or something specific they wanted). Say everything will be 50p or whatever and for people to bring correct change of they can. Then they're not disappointed by the fact that passers by might not stop/won't have cash etc, aren't bothering anyone. More likely to be a success?

Would absolutely be saying it was a one off though!

Personally I couldn’t be arsed to make lemonade, it sounds a massive faff! If they do it themselves, you’d probably still have to supervise. Putting old toys out would be a better idea. They can get rid of clutter!

Kids around my neighbourhood do
it and I think it’s cute. They just sell a bit of lemon squash for 50p. No harm in it. Some people are so miserable

Why would you say no? And why couldn’t they keep the money?

I really don’t think lemonade stands are a thing in the UK. Is there something else they could sell instead? I think k it’s fine for them to keep the money themselves.

I don’t really see why you would say the money has to go to charity? Obviously it’s nice to do that, but why shouldn’t they try to earn some money? I mean, it’s unlikely to make any profit but I don’t see why they shouldn’t try, it’s not a bad or disreputable thing to do?

My kids did this a few years ago - was a great success and they loved it! I did make them give some of the cash to charity tho. Let them have fun!

Why would you say no and if they did it why would you make them give the money to charity?!?!?

Provided they acquire a trading licence from your Local Authority, hire an accountancy firm or do their own tax returns, and submit to regular inspection from food hygiene teams, I can't see any reason why not.

It’s such an easy thing to say yes to and one of those things they might reminisce about when they’re older. If it goes poorly and they don’t sell anything that won’t be more disappointing than being told they can’t even try. I still don’t get the money to charity thing at all - do you give all your disposable income to charity? I just don’t get it.

I've never seen a lemonade stand where we live, but last summer at the local big playground some kids brought a massive cooler of ice lollies on a hot day, undercut the ice cream van, and made a killing 😆
We also once had a couple boys the same-ish age as your kids knock on the door with their mum and offer to clean the outside of all our downstairs windows for about £1/window (so 50p each). They were saving up for a game of some sort IIRC. Their mum supervised and made sure they did a good job, and I was happy to support their entrepreneurship!

What did you do with the money given for painting nails??? Give it to charity?

Its the teachings of business...... they need to learn how to make it, or learn how to dispense it to make a profit.

Glib and entirely inaccurate.

You prefer teaching kids about business by letting them run cowboy operations and dodge taxes?

I think this is something children see on television but there’s lots of things we see on television that we don’t do in real
life - like put the phone down without saying goodbye at the end of an ordinary conversation. I wouldn’t buy from a stand and I wouldn’t let my children badger people either.

Tzitzibira stand here for a few years, which is greek ginger beer with lemon (introduced by the British and made better by Greeks 😁). We are on a busy village footpath (though you could pass by easily on the other side to avoid the kids).

They did a storm on sunny days and by the third or fourth summer had refined with mint sprigs and ice.

When they stopped because they hit teenage years and were too cool for it, people complained and always asked about whether they would start again. Now young adults and even last year someone was asking on the village FB page what happened to the nice ginger beer stand.