Games

The Stand

Ten dollars. One hot Saturday. Build your lemonade stand.

Skill this builds: Calculate what a product costs to make, price what you sell, and count what's left at the end of the day.
About: About 6 minutes · Standards: CEE, Jump$tart · Plays offline

You have $10 to set up your lemonade stand. Everything costs something — spend your money with the + and − buttons until it's all planned out. Then see how the day goes!

Playing as

Your Beacon

Change

Modeled — not sourced

The prices in this game are pretend, so the math stays easy. The big ideas are real: things cost money to make, and what's left after costs is yours.

Source: CFPB — Money as You Grow (real money lessons for kids, by age)
Source: MyMoney.gov — Youth resources

Saturday morning — set up your stand

Round 1 of 2

You've got $10 saved up. Plan every dollar — nothing left over, nothing missing.

Money to spend: $10 to spend

Allocated: $8

$2 unallocated

Lemons & sugar
What the lemonade is made of
Lemons & sugar allocation in dollars per resident
Minimum $3 — you are at the minimum
No lemons, no lemonade. The stuff your product is made of always comes first.
Cups
Can't sell lemonade in someone's hands
Cups allocation in dollars per resident
Minimum $2 — you are at the minimum
You can make the best lemonade ever — with no cups, you can't sell a single one.
Ice
Warm lemonade doesn't sell
Ice allocation in dollars per resident
Minimum $1 — you are at the minimum
On a hot day, ice is what makes people stop at YOUR stand.
Block party table fee
The rule to sell here
Block party table fee allocation in dollars per resident
Minimum $2 — you are at the minimum
The block party charges $2 for a table spot. Real businesses pay fees to follow the rules — it's a normal cost, not a punishment.
Sign & decorations
So people find you
Sign & decorations allocation in dollars per resident
Minimum $0 — you are at the minimum
You don't HAVE to have a sign… but how will anyone know you're there? Your choice!
Pay yourself
Your profit — the part you keep
Pay yourself allocation in dollars per resident
Minimum $0 — you are at the minimum
In the morning this stays at $0 — payday comes AFTER you sell. When it does, what you keep after costs is called profit.

The point

Here's the secret you now know: money you EARN comes from making something people want, and money you KEEP is what's left after costs. Big companies do exactly what you just did — just with more zeros. Next time you're at a store, try to guess: what did this cost them to make?