A duck walked up to a lemonade stand, and he said to the man running the stand. Hey! {bum bum bum} Got any grapes?
Chances are if you have school aged children then you've heard the duck song approximately 400 000 times and it gets stuck in your head for hours. I feel your pain!
We've been doing Elf on a Shelf for a few years now and in an effort to not repeat easy elf ideas from previous years, Elfie's had to get a little more creative. This year she's recreated some of the kids favourite pop culture things like among us and Pokémon, so naturally the duck song got added to her list. Thankfully it's really easy to make a duck song lemonade stand and I'm going to show you exactly how I made it so your elf can do it too.
You only need a few items from around the house and about 10 minutes to set up your lemonade stand, which is great if you're limited on time. Or if you're organised you can make it ahead of time {when the kids aren't around} and set it up in less than a minute.
HOW TO MAKE A LEMONADE STAND FROM THE DUCK SONG
Before we go on, if you have no idea what the duck song is {lucky you}, it's a super popular YouTube video that most kids watch on repeat and it never seems to get old {for them at least}. I do admit though it does have a catchy tune and I do sometimes catch myself humming it or singing it in my head for no reason. So we're all on the same page, and so you also have it stuck in your head, here it is for you to get up to speed.
Thanks to the low quality, 13 year old graphics, it's quite easy to recreate the lemonade stand exactly as it is in the song. You don't need any fancy decorations or props, this lemonade stand is as basic as it comes, but I guarantee the kids will love it! If you're getting any Christmas deliveries I suggest you smuggle away a cardboard box to reuse and the rest of the items you'll need you should already have at home.
You will need:
- Pencil
- Ruler
- Scissors
- Sticky tape
- Cardboard box
- Sharpie
1. Unfold your box into flat cardboard.
2. Cut your cardboard into 4 main pieces: base, roof and two side sections. You can make your lemonade stand any size you like, I used a small box that would fit the elf without needing to be cut down too much. I made the base from one end of the bottom of the box so it was sturdy.
You want the top of your side pieces to be cut on a 45 degree angle so the roof will slant down once it's attached. I just used the two side tabs from my box as they were already angled and they were a good height. I then cut a rectangle piece to size to fit the width of the base and the width of the side pieces.
3. Write ICE FRESh onto the roof piece and Lemonade onto the base. Copy the way it's been written in the video including messy writing and incorrect use of capitals.
4. Stick the lemonade stand together. The easiest way to do this is to tape the sides to the base and then tape the roof to the sides. You could use hot glue to stick it together instead if you want it to be a bit sturdier.
My base piece does have a bit of overhang on the sides which I can trim off, but honestly the kids won't notice. My eyes also twitch that I didn't centre the word lemonade properly, but again the kids won't even care, they'll just be so happy that it looks like the YouTube one.
HOW TO CREATE A DUCK SONG ELF SCENE
You can set up your elf with the lemonade stand by simply putting the elf inside and having the duck standing on the outside. If you're putting it together quick or you're worried the kids might wake up and see you then I'd recommend just doing this option. They'll immediately recognise what it's meant to be just from the duck and the lemonade stand.
However. if you have more time up your sleeve, or you're just over the top like me then you can try to recreate the video even more accurately by adding in a few props. Plan this ahead though because you don't want to be running around looking for the items in the middle of the night.
You will need:
- Elf
- Yellow duck
- Lemonade stand
- Blue & green paper
- Artificial tree {optional}
- Buildings {optional}
- Fairy bench {optional}
- Tiny lemonade jug {optional}
Thanks to our huge small world play collection of props and craft stash, we had everything we needed except for a lemonade jug. If you don't have one you can always print off a picture of one and stick it onto the stand. I didn't bother adding one as I knew the kids would understand without it.
Start out by putting the green paper onto the shelf or wherever you're going to set it up and then stick a piece of blue paper behind it to represent the sky. Add the lemonade stand, elf and duck. You can leave it here if that's all you got or you can add the background items too.
In the YouTube video there is a tree, some buildings and a park bench in the background to the left of the stand. We had enough items to recreate this so I added them off to the side.
You can also add a speech bubble from the duck that says "Got any grapes?" which I forgot to add before taking the photos.
If you're after more easy elf ideas, funny elf ideas, or super easy elf ideas be sure to join our Facebook group Elfing Around where thousands of parents all over the world share their ideas and advice. If your kids love this elf duck song idea, try some of these fun elf game ideas using popular kids games.
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