Make National Ice Cream Month about more than just cones and cups with these educational summer activities for kids that involve everyone’s favorite cold treat.
1. Plan an Ice Cream Shop Hop
Looking for fun things to do with kids that also keep them sharp this summer? Add this to your summer bucket list with kids. Pick a few of the best ice cream spots in town to visit with the family. At each stop, share a cone, a cup, or a sundae of your choice. Rate the ice cream on the scorecard above as you help kids build critical thinking and science skills through ice cream testing! First, color in the flavor you tried. Then, circle how you received it—in a cone, cup, or sundae! Next, select the level of sweetness from 1 to 3 lollipops and the level of coldness from 1 to 3 ice cubes. Was it cold enough to not melt in your cup? Finally, note if the texture was smooth and creamy or icy and crumbly by circling the soft serve or hard ice cream. At the end of your ice cream shop hop, discuss the similarities and differences between all the ice cream you tried. Ask kids what qualities they would want their ice cream to have if they owned a shop! What flavors would they serve?
2. Indulge in Sundaes Made with Math
If it’s too hot to hop around ice cream shops, you can still make eating ice cream at home an educational experience. All you need is a dice to turn sundae-making into math-making.This is perfect if you are looking for free things to do with kids this summer, as you likely already have ice cream and dice at home! First, lay out ice cream bowls and sundae ingredients like ice cream, hot fudge, sprinkles, M&M’s, Oreos, whipped cream, and cherries. For each part of the sundae, have kids roll a dice and take that amount. (For scoops of ice cream, you may want to limit their roll from 1-3!) For toppings, kids can roll a number to take that many pieces of a specific topping or that many spoonfuls of toppings which they divide amongst the toppings they want as an extra math challenge. This fun and educational way to make sundaes is likely to become one of your family’s favorite kids summer activities!
3. Taste Sweet American History
Of course, one of our favorite educational summer activities for kids is baking an ice cream treat! Ice cream may not have originated in America, but boy do Americans love it. And America did happen to invent the ice cream sandwich—yum! Jump into an exciting and interactive lesson on the history of ice cream in America while you bake up classic ice cream sandwiches with this Baketivity kit.
There’s no adventure quite like a baking adventure—especially when it involves ice cream! Baking is one of the most fun things to do with kids and it helps them build kitchen skills and more. Within this kit’s lesson, your family can embark on special challenges together like making the ultimate sundae, guessing which wacky ice cream flavors really exist, and a scooping test!
