"Pass the Buck" Internet Project
The Lemonade Game

The Lemonade Game is a fun way to teach kids how to run a business. Working with money in such a practical way can teach many lessons and reinforce basic math skills. If you have Internet access, play the Lemonade Stand Game online. If you do not have Internet access, see the step-by-step instructions below.

Before Playing the Game
Students might perform this activity on their own, or they might work with a partner or as part of a team of three or four students. They will need paper and pencils to play the game. They will divide the paper into 10 sections or columns and label each section Day 1, Day 2, Day 3... to Day 10.

Create 20 cards. You might use simple index cards or your might cut yellow cards in the shape of lemons. Set up those cards in this way:

• 5 cards have the words RAINY DAY printed on them
• 2 cards have the words HOT DAY printed on them
• 3 cards have the words WINDY DAY printed on them
• 5 cards have the words GREAT DAY -- DOUBLE YOUR MONEY! printed on them
• 3 cards have the words TOO SWEET -- BUY 3 MORE LEMONS on them
• 2 cards have the words TOO SOUR -- BUY 2 MORE CUPS OF SUGAR printed on them

It's Time to Play!
Give each student/team $20 to start the game. Then...

• Have students predict in advance how many glasses of lemonade they will sell on Day 1; they should choose any number from 5 to 15. (For every five glasses of lemonade sold, the students must make an investment in one cup of sugar and two lemons. Sugar costs 10 cents per cup. Lemons cost 10 cents per lemon.)
• Have them choose how much they will charge per glass of lemonade; they should choose a number anywhere from 10 cents to 25 cents.
  
  Once students have recorded the information above, present the game cards -- shuffled and face down -- to them. Each student or student team must draw one of the game cards.
  
• If they choose a RAINY DAY card, they lose all the money they had invested for that day. They must subtract the cost of the lemons and sugar from the $20 you gave them at the start of the game.
• If they choose a HOT DAY card, they add all the money earned (number of cups of lemonade x cost per cup) to their $20 in start-up money. Then they must subtract their investment in sugar and lemons for the day to get the value of their "company."
• If they choose a WINDY DAY card, then lemonade sales were not as brisk as they predicted. They get to keep half of the money they predicted they would earn that day and add that amount to the $20. Then they must subtract their planned investment in lemons and sugar to get the value of their company at the end of the day.
• If they choose GREAT DAY card, they double the money they predicted they would earn that day. They add that amount to the initial $20. Of course, they needed to double the amount invested in sugar and lemons too, so they must subtract the amount invested in raw materials.
• If they choose a TOO SWEET or TOO SOUR card, they need to purchase more supplies and subtract that money and then they still need to pull another card... until they get a card labeled RAINY, HOT, WINDY, or GREAT DAY.

An example...
If the student or team chooses a HOT DAY card and they had sold 15 cups at 20 cents each that day, they would add $3.00 to their money for a total of $23.00. Then they would need to subtract their purchases. In order to make and sell 15 cups of lemonade, they needed to buy 3 cups of sugar (30 cents) and 6 lemons (60 cents) for a total cost of 90 cents. So they must subtract 90 cents from $23.00, which will leave them with $22.25 at the end of Day 1 (and the start of Day 2)...

Play continues in that way. The student or team with the most money on Day 10 is the winner.

For Younger Students
For younger students, this is a fun all-class project. Arrange students into pairs or teams. Call up pairs/teams one at a time to choose a card and work out the totals together.

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