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Sidewalk Sale PDF Print E-mail

Earning money is an important experience for youth.  Many of us remember our first paycheck or our first lemonade stand. A sidewalk sale is a great way for our Discovery Scouts to learn the value of earning money.

 

Setting Up

 

The Scouts need to decide on a location and time.  The location should be a place where many people walk by, and a weekend is a good choice since more people will be out.

 

Scouts get permission from a parent to set up near a sidewalk or wherever they think people will pass by.

 

Tables, chairs, and benches should be set up the night before.

 

Scouts can choose an old shoe box or another box in which to keep their earnings.

 

Scout Choice

 

Scouts should choose ahead of time how to divvy up or use the money.  They may choose to split the money equally, split it according to who sold what, whose items sold, or agree that the money will go into a petty cash fund for use by the team.  These details need to be worked out ahead of time to prevent hard feelings.

 

Our Scouts collect their old toys, old clothes, and anything they feel they will not use again.  What to sell is their choice.

 

Scouts decide what they would like to charge for each item and create their own sales tags.  They write on pieces of masking tape, or tape pieces of paper to the items.

 

They then bring their goods to the sale.

 

This activity requires at least two parents or assistants to supervise and to make change.

 

Scouts set up the items in the way they think will be most attractive to buyers. 

 

Instant Achievement

 

Earning their own money is a very exciting experience for our Scouts.  Not many activities provide instant gratification but selling a valuable item for money does.  Our Scouts learn the value of a dollar by seeing their unneeded items turning into cash.

 

This sale can also become a lemonade stand, or with parental supervision, a sale on eBay.

 
Adventure Scouts USA