With the recent warm weather, the children in the Acorns room at Filton Avenue Nursery School found a creative and refreshing way to cool down—by making ice cream in a bag! This exciting activity combined fun with learning, as the children explored the science behind freezing using ice cubes and salt.
The children were fully involved in the process, helping to measure out the ingredients and working together to mix them. This hands-on experience supported several areas of learning within the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), including mathematics, communication and language, and understanding the world.
Through this collaborative activity, the children not only enjoyed a tasty treat but also developed important skills such as teamwork, problem-solving, and fine motor coordination. It was a perfect example of how play-based learning can be both educational and enjoyable.
If you want to try this out at home during the summer holidays you will need:
- 125ml blue top milk or pouring cream
- 1 tablespoon caster sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- A few handfuls of ice cubes (about 20 ice cubes)
- 4 tablespoons of table salt
- Ice cream toppings (optional)
- 3 ziplock bags
- Lots of ice cubes
Follow the steps below to make the ice cream:
- Measure out and pour 125ml milk/pouring cream into the small zip-lock bag.
- Now, add your 1 tablespoon caster sugar and ½ teaspoon vanilla extract.
- Carefully seal the bag. Remember to gently squeeze out any excess air before sealing it. Make sure that is closed securely and none of the liquid can escape and then place it inside another zip-lock bag.
- Take a larger zip-lock bag. Add around 20 ice cubes and 4 tablespoons of table salt into it. You need enough ice to cover the other bag, while leaving space for everything to shake around.
- Put the small zip-seal bag of ice cream mixture, inside the large zip-seal bag of ice. Carefully seal the larger bag.
- Wrap the bag in a tea towel or pop on some gloves, and start to shake it!
- After about 10-20minutes of shaking, your mixture should have frozen into ice cream- if not keep shaking!
- Gently unzip the larger bag over a sink.
- Take out the smaller zip-lock bag of ice cream, we then popped ours into the freezer for 20mins to get it a little colder and firmer before eating.
- Now, tip the contents of the larger bag (the ice, salt and any melted ice) away.
- Serve it with your choice of yummy toppings!
