By contributing writer Colleen
Summer time is a little lighter in our homeschool. We still learn, but the hardcore, heavy duty subjects go by the wayside for fun (and slightly frivolous) lessons. Like an ice cream study.
Learn Ice Cream History
Did you know that there isn’t a clear answer to who invented ice cream? It’s true.
There are stories of Roman Emperor Nero (AD 54-68) sending slaves to the mountains for snow to mix with nectar and fruit, and of China’s King T’ang of Shang (AD 618-907) making a dish with ice, fermented milk, flour, and camphor.
There is a fun timeline with some of these stories from ice cream’s history at The Old Farmer’s Almanac. It might be interesting to use that timeline as the inspiration for an ice cream cone timeline at home.
Simply make a cone out of brown construction paper and circles (for scoops) out of various other colors. Write one event from the timeline on each scoop, and assemble it, in order, up a wall.
Ice Cream Activities
Make Your Own Ice Cream
There are lots of great books filled with ice cream recipes that can be found on Amazon or in your local bookstore. You can search the internet for fun and easy recipes too.
Here are a few to get you started:
- Handmade Ice Cream
- Two Ingredient Ice Cream
- Snow Ice Cream (If you want to file it away for the winter.)
Taste Test
Make sure you have a taste test, too. Buy or make a few different flavors, and have your kids vote on their favorites. Then, have the kids create a graph of their favorite flavors.
Make an Ice Cream Craft
Ice cream crafts are as easy as stacking construction paper circles on cardboard cones.
If you’re feeling adventurous, try mixing up this snow paint recipe, adding a few drops of food color, and calling it puffy ice cream paint. Let your kids paint triple and quadruple scoop cones.
Whatever you do, summer is the perfect time for investigating the yummy goodness of ice cream and where it all came from.
Do you have any other ideas or resource to share about ice cream making?
Leave a Reply