When life hands you lemons, make lemonade!

A big thanks goes out to Debby Kilburn for this fun site. This latest addition to the Internet Playground is Lemonade Stand by Jason Mayans. Now when you are running around the playground, you can stop and get a cyber drink too!

Actually, this site is based on a classic computer game of the same name. Since I had never heard of the original game, I was really curious about how to play this version. What I found was a simple, fun, and addictive game that will quench your thirst for a quick internet fix.

Lemonade Stand, created by Jason Mayans, is a cyber version of the business side of ye olde Kool - Aid stand. Here's how it works: you sign in, you get your first day's weather report, and using an initial investment of $5.00 you decide how much to spend on advertising, how much you are going to charge per cup of lemonade, and how many cups of lemonade you will make. You do the same thing for the next 25 days (or 25 turns) and the object of the game is to make a lot of profit and reach the top of the high scorer's list.

The twist in the whole thing is the weather report. It tells you the forecasted temperature and the percent chance that it might rain. So based on the forecast you decide your variables. What makes this fun and challenging is that the outcome is not predictable (actually it seems to resemble real life). One day it rains and you sell a couple of drinks (or none!). The next day it's sunny and you sell a good number of lemonades (and then you wish you had made more). How does this work? What's the trick? According to info on the site, Jason writes, "The whole game runs on a highly-secret complex mathematical formula, with an element of randomizing thrown in." In other words, you'll never figure it out so take a crack at it and see what happens.

This is a great game for kids because it teaches them lessons about planning and how to make money. And just like real life, you never know what the outcome will be. So whether you are a kid, or a kid at heart, I think you'll find that this is an entertaining game and that it's a little more fun than standing out in the sun and drinking up your profits.

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