5 IMPORTANT LIFE LESSONS YOUR KIDS CAN LEARN THROUGH ENTREPRENEURSHIP
BY STEVEN GORDON, LEMONADE DAY NATIONAL PRESIDENT
“When we ask kids what they got out of Lemonade Day, the common answer is that it taught them how to set a goal. After going through the process, the kids understand that they can make a plan, and when they work at this plan hard and deliberately, they can achieve anything they want. When you experience something, it becomes yours. It’s not just about raiding the pantry and dragging the wagon out to the corner, though that’s part of it, too. Lemonade Day is helping youth understand how they can take control of their own lives and achieve the American dream.”
Michael Holthouse, Lemonade Day, Founder
Last week while visiting our Capitol in Washington, DC I had the opportunity to meet with a director of policy for a Senator who asked me, “why is the Lemonade Day program so successful in transforming lives?” This question reminded about this blog we published about a year ago that bears repeating.
There’s having a lemonade stand, and then there’s having a “Lemonade Day stand”. What’s the difference? By participating in the Lemonade Day entrepreneurship program your child will gain invaluable life lessons that will change how they think and prepare them for life. But they’ll be having so much fun, they won’t know they’re actually learning. Here are 5 ways that Lemonade Day will help your child succeed.
1) Working towards goals
A key part of Lemonade Day is personal goal setting: What do you want to do with your profit? How do you want to spend, save and share your earnings? Children learn how to think about what an appropriate goal might be and how to create a plan to reach that goal. And if your child doesn’t reach their goal, it’s a fabulous opportunity to review what the goal was and why they didn’t reach it—how would they do it differently next time and what did they learn from the experience?
2) Building EQ (Emotional Quotient)
Engaging with customers, making eye contact, smiling and answering questions might feel like a tall order at first for a child. But the more they practice at their Lemonade Day stand, they better they will get at it. These are EQ building exercises that let your children try out different ways of interacting with people to create a rapport and ultimately sell more lemonade!
3) Math has a real purpose
It’s one thing to work out math problems in the classroom or while doing homework. It’s a completely different animal to see how math actually works when a child builds and runs their own lemonade stand. When developing their budget and business plan, children calculate everything from projected revenue, to cost per cup and profit per cup. By putting math to use in a fun, experiential way, children can get excited about math and begin to connect the dots as to why it’s important.
4) The value of money
Until you’ve earned your first dollar, it can be hard to grasp how hard it is to actually make money. Kids who participate as entrepreneurs in Lemonade Day, experience first hand all of the planning, budgeting, and sweat-equity that goes into starting and running a business and making a profit. This can help them better appreciate the value of money, and that ultimately it’s easier to spend money than make it.
5) Make your own opportunities
While we hope that our children will never struggle to find employment, the economy has its ups and downs and there are no guarantees. Sharing with your child the steps and skills involved in starting their own businesses gives them the toolset to make their own opportunities. Knowing how to make your own money is one skill that everyone should have.
About Lemonade Day
Founded in Houston in 2007 by Michael and Lisa Holthouse, Lemonade Day is a non-profit organization dedicated to teaching every child across North America the business and financial skills that are the key ingredients of entrepreneurship. By learning these skills early in life, children will be better prepared to be successful, financially healthy adults. Through our fun, hands-on program, kids K-5 are empowered to start their very own business—a lemonade stand—and experience the feeling of earning real money, using 100% of their profit to spend, save and share based on their own goals.
Lemonade Day is hosted in 66 territories in North America and growing. Over the past 10 years, we have served more than 1 million kids in our kid entrepreneur programs.
Visit LemonadeDay.org to learn how to participate in Lemonade Day in your city or to donate locally or nationally.
back to blog
BY STEVEN GORDON, LEMONADE DAY NATIONAL PRESIDENT
“When we ask kids what they got out of Lemonade Day, the common answer is that it taught them how to set a goal. After going through the process, the kids understand that they can make a plan, and when they work at this plan hard and deliberately, they can achieve anything they want. When you experience something, it becomes yours. It’s not just about raiding the pantry and dragging the wagon out to the corner, though that’s part of it, too. Lemonade Day is helping youth understand how they can take control of their own lives and achieve the American dream.”
Michael Holthouse, Lemonade Day, Founder
Last week while visiting our Capitol in Washington, DC I had the opportunity to meet with a director of policy for a Senator who asked me, “why is the Lemonade Day program so successful in transforming lives?” This question reminded about this blog we published about a year ago that bears repeating.
There’s having a lemonade stand, and then there’s having a “Lemonade Day stand”. What’s the difference? By participating in the Lemonade Day entrepreneurship program your child will gain invaluable life lessons that will change how they think and prepare them for life. But they’ll be having so much fun, they won’t know they’re actually learning. Here are 5 ways that Lemonade Day will help your child succeed.
1) Working towards goals
A key part of Lemonade Day is personal goal setting: What do you want to do with your profit? How do you want to spend, save and share your earnings? Children learn how to think about what an appropriate goal might be and how to create a plan to reach that goal. And if your child doesn’t reach their goal, it’s a fabulous opportunity to review what the goal was and why they didn’t reach it—how would they do it differently next time and what did they learn from the experience?
2) Building EQ (Emotional Quotient)
Engaging with customers, making eye contact, smiling and answering questions might feel like a tall order at first for a child. But the more they practice at their Lemonade Day stand, they better they will get at it. These are EQ building exercises that let your children try out different ways of interacting with people to create a rapport and ultimately sell more lemonade!
3) Math has a real purpose
It’s one thing to work out math problems in the classroom or while doing homework. It’s a completely different animal to see how math actually works when a child builds and runs their own lemonade stand. When developing their budget and business plan, children calculate everything from projected revenue, to cost per cup and profit per cup. By putting math to use in a fun, experiential way, children can get excited about math and begin to connect the dots as to why it’s important.
4) The value of money
Until you’ve earned your first dollar, it can be hard to grasp how hard it is to actually make money. Kids who participate as entrepreneurs in Lemonade Day, experience first hand all of the planning, budgeting, and sweat-equity that goes into starting and running a business and making a profit. This can help them better appreciate the value of money, and that ultimately it’s easier to spend money than make it.
5) Make your own opportunities
While we hope that our children will never struggle to find employment, the economy has its ups and downs and there are no guarantees. Sharing with your child the steps and skills involved in starting their own businesses gives them the toolset to make their own opportunities. Knowing how to make your own money is one skill that everyone should have.
About Lemonade Day
Founded in Houston in 2007 by Michael and Lisa Holthouse, Lemonade Day is a non-profit organization dedicated to teaching every child across North America the business and financial skills that are the key ingredients of entrepreneurship. By learning these skills early in life, children will be better prepared to be successful, financially healthy adults. Through our fun, hands-on program, kids K-5 are empowered to start their very own business—a lemonade stand—and experience the feeling of earning real money, using 100% of their profit to spend, save and share based on their own goals.
Lemonade Day is hosted in 66 territories in North America and growing. Over the past 10 years, we have served more than 1 million kids in our kid entrepreneur programs.
Visit LemonadeDay.org to learn how to participate in Lemonade Day in your city or to donate locally or nationally.
STAY CONNECTED TO LEMONADE DAY NATIONAL
@LemonadeDayNational