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Friendship Ice Cream Is a Fun Way to Practice Sharing

Have you tried making friendship ice cream? It’s a fun way to practice sharing and turn taking.

Making friendship ice cream is a fun way to practice sharing and taking turns!

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My kids are great friends, but they still struggle sometimes with sharing and taking turns. Honestly, it’s something that I still struggle with sometimes as an adult. Sharing is hard, and so is being patient while waiting for your turn! This weekend I decided to make sharing deliciously fun with this fun activity.

This activity also happens to pair beautifully with the book Should I share My Ice Cream?, which is this weeks’ pick for the Virtual Book Club for Kids. My kids adore the entire Elephant and Piggies series, and they really giggled when we read this book together after completing the activity.

How Do You Make Friendship Ice Cream?

Practice sharing by making friendship ice cream. So much fun!

Friendship ice cream is easy to make! Here is what you need:

First, Mix Your Ice Cream

You need equal parts sugar and milk, with just enough sugar to make it sweet. Then add a dash of vanilla and a little salt. Sprinkle in some nutmeg and/or cocoa powder if you like.

Or, if you like recipes, we recommend the Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Cookbook for more delectable treats.

Don’t worry if the cocoa powder isn’t stirred in perfectly – it will get plenty of shaking together soon.

Divide the ice cream mix into as many quart sized ziploc bags as you need for there to be one for every other person participating. This is a sharing and turn taking activity, but that doesn’t mean the kids have to wait a long time for their turn!

Set this mixture aside – in the fridge or even freezer – while you set up the ice bags.

LOVE this activity for practicing sharing.

Next, set up the ice bags

Fill the gallon bags about 1/3 the way full of ice and add a layer of salt to the top.

Why Use Salt to Make Ice Cream?

Water freezes at 32 degrees Fahrenheit. Ice cream has ingredients besides water, and so the temperature needs to drop below 32 degrees for it to freeze. Salt lowers the freezing temperature of the water. This means that the salt plus ice mixture is actually colder than ice on its own – even though it looks less cold because it is turning all slushy! Science is a little crazy sometimes.

Make friendship ice cream! A delicious way to practice sharing and taking turns


Pull out your ice cream mixture, and place it inside the ice bag. Make sure your ice cream mixture’s bag is sealed nice and tight!

Seal the gallon bag shut, and take turns shaking your ice cream, passing it from person to person! Pretty soon you will have a soft serve consistency ice cream to enjoy!

Have you tried making friendship ice cream? It's delicious, fun, and a great way to practice sharing and taking turns.

Someday I want to try making ice cream in these ice cream balls!

More Friendship Themed Books for Kids

Do you want to explore this friendship sharing and turn taking theme some more with your kids? Check out these books:

More Friendship Activities

Here are some more fun friendship themed activities from my fellow Virtual Book Club for Kids co-hosts:

Name Learning Friendship Activities

Sensory Friendship Activities

Cooking Themed Friendship Activities

Numbers Themed Friendship Activities

Pre-Writing Friendship Activities

Movement Focused Friendship Activities

Science Themed Friendship Activities

Shapes Themed Friendship Activities

Do you have a book about friendship, sharing, or turn taking that we should read? Let me know in the comments, or drop me a note on Facebook.

The 2016-17 Virtual Book Club for Kids

2016-17 season virtual book club for kids books and activities

Click on the image above to see all of the themes, books, and activities for this year’s 2016-17 Virtual Book Club for Kids! I’ll update the page as new posts go live.

I would love for you to tag me on Instagram if you make our Friendship ice cream! 

MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.

12 thoughts on “Friendship Ice Cream Is a Fun Way to Practice Sharing”

  1. My kids have tried making ice cream this way and I am always amazed how you actually end up with ice cream! I love the sharing and taking turns aspect too! It’s helpful because it is a tiring process but what a fun outcome!

  2. We love freezer bag ice cream and turning it into a sharing activity is so smart! This is a great activity to go with the book Should I Share my Ice Cream.

    1. It was a delicious activity! The Elephant and Piggie books are brilliant. My seven-year-old still saves up her money to buy them when a new one comes out.

  3. I’m definitely going to have to try this! My two oldest (2 and 4 years-old) are having a difficult time sharing together. My husband and I have tried nearly everything we can to figure out how to help encourage them to share. We will definitely give this a try, especially since there is ice cream involved! If they do share their ice cream we will have to try homemade rootbeer floats and do a series of “yummy foods” before moving on to toys.

  4. What a delicious activity to share! ‘Mouse and Elephant’ is a cute friendship story we enjoy – I got it as a library discard in England and was surprised how much we enjoyed it – we quote part of it for fun every now and then even though it’s been packed away in the attic for a while.

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