Simple Fun with Ice Cream {Gail Gibbons Virtual Book Club for Kids Blog Hop}

This post contains affiliate links. 

Our June Virtual Book Club for Kids author is Gail Gibbons!

We've read a few of Gail's books before, but Ice Cream: The Full Scoop was a new book to us, so we decided to check it out. We are huge ice cream lovers so we really enjoyed all of the details in the book. 

Our favorite part about the book was the illustrations. There are tons of them and they are very colorful. My toddler used them to help her think of questions and my son and I just had fun absorbing all of the facts. The book is rich with information, so you may want to read it in small chunks. We only read 2-3 pages at a time with my toddler and then did a lot of talking about what we read while making observations. 

After we read the book, we decided to have an ice cream themed weekend and do some ice cream themed activities. I am going to share four of the simple activities we tried with you...

1. {Pretend Play} Playdough Ice Cream Shop

I loved this ice cream play idea from Sun Hats and Wellie Books, so we simplified it a bit using materials we had around the house and it was a hit!

The kids made ice cream cones from brown construction paper and used pom poms for cherries and sequins for sprinkles. They loved getting to use our actual grown up ice cream scoopers too.

If I were a cooler mom, we would've made our own playdough too... but instead we just grabbed what we had from our cupboard. They had fun making and selling their ice cream all weekend long.

2. {Kitchen Chemistry} 5 Minute Ice Cream

I was totally proud of myself for attempting this activity. I've never made homemade ice cream without a machine and did not believe this would actually work. We used this 5 minute ice cream recipe from How Stuff Works, though I have many other cookbooks with more complicated recipes.

Follow the tutorial above for specific details. We made sure to wrap our large baggie in a towel as we shook it. Once it was wrapped up, we tossed it back and forth and played catch. Now I really want to try one of these Ice Cream Ball Ice Cream Makers.

The recipe took more like 7-8 minutes to actually work, but we were impressed that it actually solidified. Next time we will need to make more since the kids really seemed to like it and we will use heavy cream to make it a bit more rich. 🙂 If you have a favorite homemade ice cream recipe, feel free to share it in the comments!

I let them add sprinkles and mini chocolate chips and they were in heaven with their little treat!

3. {Learning Colors} Felt Ice Cream Cones

Next I cut out some felt ovals and triangles in different colors and the kids placed them on felt sheets to make their own felt ice cream cones.

This was a simple activity to use as I talked with my toddler about colors, sizes, numbers, and placement (ex. the blue scoop is on top of the cone). My son also turned his cones into ice cream monsters. He practiced counting and we worked on simple addition and subtraction word problems using the scoops (ex. Sarah had one scoop and Josh three scoops. How many scoops did they have all together?)  We used sequins as sprinkles again and just had a good time exploring with the felt pieces to create different masterpieces.   

4. {Family Field Trip} Going to the Ice Cream Shop

Our last ice cream themed activity included a family field trip to go get ice cream sundaes at a local creamery. Yum! Not only did we enjoy a treat, but we practiced skills like sharing, waiting turns, asking/answering questions, and listening. We also practiced our table manners.  

What is your favorite Gail Gibbons book? If you have blogged about it, we'd love for you to link up your post in the linky below! We can't wait to see all of your amazing ideas! 

There are a few rules for this blog hop that we ask you to follow, so make sure to read them: 

1. Link up only posts inspired by Gail Gibbons that share children's book inspired crafts, activities, recipes, etc. Any other posts will be deleted.
2. Visit other blog posts on the linky and comment on or share the ones you love!
3. Add our Virtual Book Club button to your post if you'd like.

Here's the button you can grab if you are participating!

PS- If you missed any of our other Virtual Book Club Posts you can find them below:

June- Mo Willems

July- Don and Audrey Wood

August- Kevin Henkes

September- Lois Ehlert

October- Amy Krouse Rosenthal

November- Tomie dePaola

December- Jan Brett

January- David McPhail

February- Dr Seuss

March- Julia Donaldson

April- David Shannon

May- Leo Lionni

You can also find loads of Virtual Book Club ideas organized by author on our Virtual Book Club for Kids Pinterest Board that we just started and will continue to be adding to!

Come sign up for our Virtual Book Club Summer Camp if you want to fill your summer with books and learning fun! Just click on the image below to register for five FREE weeks of camp!

Virtual Book Club for Kids participating bloggers;

Toddler Approved - Rainy Day Mum - Adventures in Reading with Kids - 3 Dinosaurs - Royal Baloo - The Educators' Spin On It - Inspiration Laboratories - Pleasantest Thing - Edventures with Kids - Two Big Two Little - Playing With Words 365 - Kitchen Counter Chronicles - Outlaw Mom - Mommy and Me Book Club - Crafty Moms Share - No Twiddle Twaddle - The Good Long Road - Ready. Set. Read 2 Me - Reading Confetti - Mama Smiles - Juggling with Kids- Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas - Creekside Learning - Creative Family Fun - The Usual Mayhem - Teach Preschool - PlayDrMom - CraftoArt - Here Come the Girls - Being a Conscious Parent - Smiling like Sunshine - Crayon Freckles - Train Up a Child - Smile Play Learn - Enchanted Homeschooling Mom - Coffee Cups and Crayons - Having Fun at Chelle's House- Love, Play, Learn - Juggling With Kids - Motherhood on a Dime - Growing Book By Book- This Reading Mama - Fantastic Fun and Learning

Disclaimer: This post contains affilate links. 

Click here to sign up for our Virtual Summer Camp planner and newsletter. Camp starts in one week!