Making Ice Cream

Description

Making Ice Cream is one of my favorite recipes that I did in my classroom as a fun Science activity on Liquids and Solids. It requires just a few ingredients and some shaking to make this treat.
How to make ice cream.

Ingredients for Ice Cream

  • 1 box Jello instant pudding (Chocolate or Vanilla) (Double recipe for a classroom)
  • Ice Cubes
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 2 cups milk
  • 1 cup Half and Half
  • Salt (ice cream salt recommended, they sell this at Walmart and most grocery stores)
  • Candy Sprinkles or Chocolate Syrup

Other Materials

  • 2 Quart Heavy Duty Freezer Bags, 2 Heavy Duty Gallon Zip Lock Bags (use good strong bags for this activity or you may have leaks)
  • Whisk
  • Large Mixing Bowl
  • Ove Gloves or oven mitts (to handle the cold bags)

Steps

  • Combine pudding and two cups of milk in a large mixing bowl. Beat 2 minutes. Stir in sugar and evaporated milk.
    • Making ice cream step 1.
  • Pour half into each of the 2 Quart sized Freezer Ziplock Bags.
    • Making ice cream using our easy recipe.
  • Place the quart sized bag with the ice cream mixture into each of the gallon bags. Let out as much air as possible. And about a 1/4 cup ice cream salt.
    • Making ice cream using our easy recipe.
  • Add about 2 cups of ice in the bag. Put on the oven mitts and shake, shake, shake. Shake about 5-10 minutes or until frozen. It will have a soft serve consistency. (See helpful tips below)
  • Scoop into bowls or small dixie cups for the classroom. Add sprinkles, chocolate syrup and other toppings.
  • Freeze any extra ice cream
    • The salt is the secret to making ice cream.

    Tips and Suggestions

    • Not necessary but you could chill in the freezer for 15 minutes before shaking to expedite the process.
    • It gets very cold so using ove gloves or oven mitts and shaking the bag using two hands was a lot more efficient in making the ice cream than just holding the top of the bag and shaking.
    • Line up ingredients on table to help reinforce sequencing skills.
    • Have the recipe written out and point out ingredients and steps as you go.

    Ice Cream Book

      Print our Ice Cream Shape Book here. It has the ingredients and steps on separate pages. For older students you can print just the blank page and have the children write in the the ingredients and recipe steps on their own.
      Print our free shape ice cream book.
      Print our free shape ice cream book.

      Free Printable Recipe Cards

      For the classroom I would print these cards on a piece of colored construction paper and laminate for future use. Great for visual learners. Use these pages if children are writing the recipe in their own book or work on sequencing skills.
      Print your own Ice Cream Recipe Cards Here
      Print our free recipe cards for the classroom.

      The Science of Making Ice Cream

        What is the Science behind the making of ice cream? The melting and freezing point of liquid is about the same. Water freezes at 32 degrees Fahrenheit. Ice cream freezes at a lower temperature than freezing water. The sugar in the ice cream mixture prevents it from freezing at 32 degrees. Therefore, we can’t use just ice to chill the ice cream mixture because the ice will melt before the ice cream mixture gets cold enough to become solid. Salt is the "magic" component because it lowers the freezing point of water. Packing this and the ice cubes around the ice cream mixture allows it to cool enough so that it starts to thicken and freeze before the ice melts completely.

      Scientific Processes

      Observation
      • Seeing the ice cream mixture form a solid.
      • Feeling the mixture form a solid as you shake it.
      Communication
      • Oral Lots of verbal discussion about temperatures and how salt is the key to the ice cream mixture forming a solid.
      • Pictorial Reading a book or researching online plants to grow
      Comparing
      • Measuring the ingredients for the recipe.

      Other Liquid and Solid Edible Experiments

      Making Butter

        Here is another activity we did in class to demonstrate Liquids and Solids. Click How to Make Butter for more details.
      Making Butter