Earlier, my tot and I made home-made lemon play dough and blue play dough for making our own play dough ice cream shop. (Rolling and smooshing is such a great way to strengthen those little hand muscles!) I set out the ice cream spoons and my tot went rummaging through the cupboards to find my silicone baking cups. He got the idea of what we were doing!!! Then he got a piece of paper and handed me a marker and said, “Ice cream 2 dollars.” Don’t you just love this kid? I know I am biased, but he does have great ideas. It is always good to include writing and math to your pretend play. This environmental print develops early reading skills!
Then, just because we love cooking with kids, we made our own ice cream. The kids all helped pour the ingredients into the ice cream maker. I used a smaller measuring cup for my sugar so that the kids could all have a couple turns adding ingredients. I had pre-made the blueberry sauce early in the morning and set it in the freezer to cool. ****We actually did this activity first as the ice cream takes 30 minutes to soft set.
Unfortunately (or fortunately – whichever way you look at it) The ice cream never really “set.” I think it was a combination of my blueberry sauce still being a little warm and having toddlers help with the cooking process (which warmed up the cream, milk and ice cream maker). I asked the moms and toddlers if they minded having blueberry milkshakes instead. There were no complaints!!!
What a great idea for a playdate!
This is so sweet! I think my 32 month old would love this! Pinning and sharing on FB.