Making ice cream at home is not a complicated process and it takes on
a personality of its own through the imaginative toppings and additions
piled on by the people who serve and eat it. Not only is making ice
cream simple, it can also be a lot of fun. A great activity for a
child’s birthday party is to have the partygoers participate in making
the ice cream to go with the traditional birthday cake.
The recipe is simple: half and half; vanilla extract; and sugar. There
are two ways to create party fun for children. One calls for a few
plastic zipper bags; the other, a couple of coffee cans and some duct
tape – yes, the same duct tape you keep in the toolbox for household
repairs.
To prepare for the zipper bag party, get one large and one small bag
for each child. Start by giving each child his or her small zip lock bag
and telling them to be sure not to let anything happen to their ice
cream maker, then add the ingredients. Each bag gets a cup of milk, a
couple of teaspoons full of vanilla extract and two to three teaspoons
of sugar and is then sealed and placed inside a larger zipper bag filled
one forth the way with salted ice cubes. Depending upon the ages of the
children, it might be helpful to have these bags prepared in advance to
make the process go more quickly. Once the smaller bags containing the
ice cream mixture is in the larger bags let the children fill the larger
bags the rest of the way with salted ice. This is a good time to give
them a chemistry lesson by explaining that the salt helps the ice stay
at the same temperature and thaw more slowly.
Once the larger bags are filled with ice and sealed, it’s time for
the ice cream dance. Select some lively popular music let shake their
ice cream makers while dancing, hopping, sipping and jumping around for
ten minutes. If the ice cream is still soft, start the music again and
let them dance around for another ten minutes. You may want to have
extra bags on hand in case some of them spring a leak during the process
and emergency repairs are necessary. Once all the dancing is done,
you’ll have some pretty tired children on your hands, ready for some
birthday cake and ice cream. The joy of making their own ice cream is
well worth all the exertion and the exercise is a healthy, fun filled
way for them to burn off pent up energy.
Before the coffee can ice cream party starts, thoroughly wash,
sterilize and dry two coffee cans – one three pound can and a smaller,
one pound can. Take the following steps to create a shift churn and let
the fun begin.
Put the basic ice cream ingredients in the one pound can.
Place the lid on the can and seal it with duct tape. Put the
sealed one pound can inside the three-pound can and fill it with
ice, making sure the smaller can is completely surrounded by the
ice.
Wrap the can in a towel and lay out a sheet on the floor.
Invite the children to kneel down on the sheet and roll the can
from one to another as fast as they can.
Cheer them on and encourage them to go faster because they are
making their own ice cream.
After a minimum of ten minutes, open both cans. If the ice cream
is not ready, reseal the cans and play the game for another ten
minutes.
Playing the shift churn ice cream game is a wonderful way to get the
party started. That way, the finished product can be stored in the
freezer to allow the ice cream time to set properly. It’s a good idea to
have several sets of coffee cans so that several flavors of ice cream
can be made by different groups of children at the same time. One group
could be making vanilla ice cream while another makes chocolate and a
third churns up a batch of strawberry.
With the addition of fruit, cookies, chocolate chips, nuts, candy
sprinkles, and butterscotch, chocolate, strawberry or caramel syrup,
each child can create his or her own signature ice cream. When the
chilly dessert is ready, they can scoop it out and serve themselves a
heaping helping of their own creation.
Imagine the happy faces as they report to their parents and friends
that they made their own ice cream… just the way they wanted it… while
attending a birthday party.
That’s the fun of ice cream. You don’t need a party to have fun
creating your dream ice cream recipe. In fact, you don’t even have to be
a child. Making ice cream is a wonderful way to bring out the child in
everyone. Why not have a shift churn party the next time you invite a
group of your own friends over for dessert?
