Naples producer uses show to teach kids about money

A Naples financial adviser, Litchfield likes to make money fun.

In 1998 she decided to transfer the fun money idea to the TV screen. She helped found the production company Financial Fruitcakes and began developing an adult financial show, "Kiss My Assets."

But Financial Fruitcakes learned it's not just adults who need money help.

Kids do, too.

"Money affects every aspect of your life from the day you're born," said Raelyn Barlow, owner and executive producer at Financial Fruitcakes.

But the company found schools aren't teaching finances.

Out of that was born "The Lemonade Stand," a show for elementary school-age children. It teaches them four money values -- patience, planning, responsibility and teamwork. Financial Fruitcakes has produced three half-hour shows and plans to produce more.

"The real key to this project isn't just teaching them money," Litchfield said. "It's teaching them good financial values. This is the springboard for a more financially well world."

"The Lemonade Stand" is more than numbers and lectures. It's fun -- with crazy colorful costumes, zany characters, some dancing and lots of singing.

The show aims to teach basic life lessons and explain things kids aren't clear about.

Topics include saving, needs versus wants and borrowing.

Debit and credit is explained so that kids are aware that the ATM machine doesn't grow money and that a credit card isn't free.

"You try to teach kids about money ... without something they can relate to, they just don't get it," Litchfield said.

Parents can use the shows as a reference point, Litchfield said. And Litchfield and Barlow aren't just interested in television. They have produced classroom curriculum and a Web site and want to run a newspaper column to go along with the TV shows.

The show targets children between kindergarten and fourth grade. The pilot episode was produced in Naples, but subsequent shows were taped in Miami. The company would like to move production back to Southwest Florida, Litchfield said.

Four main characters anchor the show. Ms. Pockets and Jazzy Jon run a neighborhood lemonade stand. They guide the financial lessons. The Penny Princess and the Debt Master are the good and bad voices in the kids' heads.

Dan Daley's four children associate with the characters, the Tampa resident said, and they reference them outside of the show.

"They run around the house saying, 'I want to be the Penny Princess. You be the Debt Master this time,' " Daley said of his children.

But the shows are more than entertainment for Daley's children. His 6-year-old, Madison, is cautious when the family spends money, Daley said, because she wants the family to save for a Disney cruise.

"They definitely got the message that money doesn't grow on trees," Daley said. "Your parents can tell you over and over and over again, but when you get it from a different source it sinks in."

Three episodes of the show have been produced and aired across the country. Locally, the show has aired on WINK-TV.

From Los Angeles to Minneapolis to Boston, the show has been broadcast in Saturday morning time slots, and Litchfield and Barlow are hoping to produce a whole series, which means 10 more episodes.

A producer from St. Louis calls Barlow once a month wanting to know when she's going to get more episodes.

But like their show's characters, Litchfield and Barlow have money concerns of their own.

"Financially, we really had to make some hard decisions," Barlow said.

They need $2.2 million to produce the 10 shows, and they are soliciting help from foundations and corporations.

The Florida Council on Economic Education partnered with "The Lemonade Stand" and is committed to distributing curriculum to schools across the state.

The council's mission is to bring financial information to students. Most finance classes target middle and high school students, said President Donald Fell, but studies show that values are formed before the age of 10.

"They're going to need to understand personal finance," Fell said of children, "in order to make good decisions with the money they earn during their lifetime."

Despite money issues, Litchfield and Barlow are moving forward with their project.

"Parents can finally talk to their children about money," Barlow said.