Lemonade stand ideas that actually sell

Easy lemonade stand ideas for kids

For a first stand, pick two or three of these. Each one takes an hour or less and costs next to nothing.

1. A name on the sign“Ava’s Lemonade” beats “Lemonade.” The lemonade stand names guide has a hundred to pick from.
2. A tableclothA bright sheet or a cloth over the card table makes it look like a shop, not a garage sale.
3. Ice in a clear cupPeople buy with their eyes. Cold, clear, a slice of lemon on top.
4. A jar for tipsLabel it. People who would not buy a second cup still drop a dollar in.
5. A corner sign with an arrowThe cheapest idea on this page and the one that brings the most people.
6. A chair and some shadeA stand that can stay out until three sells more than one that melts at noon.

One special flavor, not five

Classic plus one is the formula. Strawberry, pink, mint, peach, blackberry, cherry limeade: pick the one you can actually make well and make it the headline. Five flavors means five pitchers, five signs and a line of people deciding.

• StrawberryMash a handful of strawberries into the pitcher. Sells out first, every time.
• MintA few leaves bruised in the bottom of the cup. Tastes expensive, costs nothing.
• Peach or blackberryOklahoma summer fruit. A spoon of jam in the syrup is the shortcut.
• Sugar-freeOne pitcher with a different sweetener. Grown-ups ask for it more than you would think.

Give the stand a name

“Lemonade” is what you sell. “Sunlit Sips” or “The Prairie Lemon Co.” is who you are. A name goes on the sign, on the cups, on the listing, and it is what people say when they tell a neighbor. Kids pick better names than grown-ups. Let them.

What to sell with a lemonade stand

One add-on, priced in round numbers, can double the take. More than one and the table gets crowded. The ones that work:

• Cookies or browniesHomemade, wrapped one or two to a bag. The classic pairing.
• PopcornCheap to make, salty, and salty sells lemonade.
• Freezer popsHomemade lemonade frozen in pop molds. Same batch, second product.
• Lemon barsOn theme and a little fancy. A grown-up favorite.

Keep everything homemade. Oklahoma’s food freedom law covers food and drink you made; a store-bought candy bar or a sealed bottle is a different thing with different rules. The lemonade stand permit rules in Oklahoma explain the line.

Lemonade stand fundraiser ideas

A stand raising money for the library, the animal shelter, a team trip, or a friend in the hospital sells more cups at a higher price, because people are buying the reason as much as the drink. Write it on the sign and say it when they walk up.

• Say exactly what it is for“For the animal shelter’s new kennels” raises more than “for charity.”
• Pay what you canA jar instead of a price. At a fundraiser, people put in fives.
• Show the goal“$80 to go” on a poster, crossed out and rewritten as it goes down.
• Hand it over in personTake a photo when the kid delivers the money. Next year’s stand starts with that photo on the sign.

A fundraiser stand on The Squeeze says what it is raising for right on its listing, and tips through the site go to the stand in full.

The little touches

• A lemon slice on the rimCosts a slice. Looks like a restaurant.
• A tally board“Cups sold today: 37.” People love watching the number go up, and some buy to move it.
• A “we’re on The Squeeze” cardSo the regulars can find you next weekend. The stand kit prints one.
• A shadeAn umbrella or a canopy means you can stay out all afternoon, and so can the customers.

Lemonade stand ideas for an Oklahoma summer

An Oklahoma July is the best lemonade weather in the country and the hardest on the people sitting at the stand. Ideas that work with the heat instead of against it:

• Frozen lemonadeFreeze half the batch in a shallow pan, scrape it with a fork, and sell it as a slush.
• A water bowl for dogsA bowl of water and a “dogs welcome” sign. Every dog walker stops, and most buy a cup.
• Morning and evening hoursTen to noon and six to eight beat two to four in August, for the customers and the crew.
• A spray bottleA cold mist for anyone who wants one. Free, and people remember it.

Ideas that bring people back

The first Saturday sells to whoever walks by. Every Saturday after that sells to the people who came back. Be there at the same time every week so regulars can count on it. Give out a punch card: buy five cups, the sixth is free. Learn the regulars’ names, and put the dog’s name on the board when they walk by. A stand on The Squeeze can flip to open every time it sets up, and the people who saved it get to see when it is pouring.

A holiday to build a stand around

National Lemonade Day is August 20, every year. A stand with a special flavor and a “Happy National Lemonade Day” sign gives people a reason to stop that a plain Tuesday does not. Kids looking past one summer can start a list of how to make money as a kid with the stand at the top.