Have you tried making friendship ice cream? It’s a fun way to practice sharing and turn taking.
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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?
What You'll Find on This Page
Friendship ice cream is easy to make! Here is what you need:
- Ice
- Gallon ziploc bags
- Quart ziploc bags
- Cream
- Milk
- Sugar
- Vanilla
- Salt
- Cocoa powder (optional)
- Nutmeg (optional)
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.
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.
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!
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
- Simple Friendship Concentration Game for Preschoolers from Toddler Approved
- Ice Cream Name Spelling Puzzles for Kids from Still Playing School
Sensory Friendship Activities
- Kind Words Sensory Lesson Friendship Activity from Preschool Powol Packets
- Listening Games with Elephant and Piggie from Inspiration Laboratories
Cooking Themed Friendship Activities
- Making Pumpkin Ice Cream with Kids for Fall from The Educators’ Spin On It
- Cupcake Cones from Kori at Home
Numbers Themed Friendship Activities
- Learning About Our Friends – Graphing Activity for Preschoolers from Rainy Day Mum
- Simple Division Math Activity for Preschoolers from JDaniel4’s Mom
Pre-Writing Friendship Activities
- Fine Motor Sharing Game from Views From a Step Stool
Movement Focused Friendship Activities
- Pass the Ice Cream Sharing Activity for Preschoolers from Sunny Day Family
- Group Gross Motor Core Strengthening Friendship Activity from Sugar Aunts
Science Themed Friendship Activities
- How to Make a Catapult Ice Cream Scoop Style from JDaniel4’s Mom
Shapes Themed Friendship Activities
- Ice Cream Scoop STEAM Challenge: Exploring 3D Shapes with a Friend from Extremely Good Parenting
- Piggie and Elephant Sharing Shapes Activity from Mosswood Connections
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
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.
Now THIS is a GREAT sharing activity! Who doesn’t want to eat ice cream together??
I tried this once with my kids and it did not go over well. I need to try it again soon.
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!
It seems to freeze instantaneously, once it DOES freeze. Very magical.
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.
The kids LOVED this activity for this book.
This is such a fun way to practice sharing. I love Elephant and Piggie books.
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.
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.
I think this is a great plan!
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.
The title of that book is intriguing! I’ll have to see if I can find a copy.