Mason Jar Ice Cream Activity

This mason jar ice cream activity will be a hit with your littles!

Delicious and fully customizable, easy and fun, it’ll keep them busy while you’re being named the “best mom ever!”

This mason jar ice cream is a quick and easy activity. Your kids will love it, it won’t stress you out, and you’ll know EVERY ingredient that goes into making it! No unnecessary preservatives, you can use organic sugar, no raw eggs. It’s wonderful! PLUS, there is no fighting over which ice cream flavor to buy! Everybody gets the flavor they want!

For this activity, I recommend using ingredients you already have in your house. It is more work and money to go out and buy all the extra toppings. For an Oreo ice cream, each jar would only need one or two Oreos. Now, I don’t know about you, but I would rather not have an entire package of Oreos lying around, when I’d only need three cookies, ya know? And the same can be said for any other ingredients you’d need to buy.

So for this mason jar ice cream activity, I searched my pantry and cupboards to see what I had.

What I had lying around:

• Miniature chocolate chips
• Miniature marshmallows
• Fresh strawberries
• Hot cocoa powder

Other topping ideas:

• Nuts(assuming allergies aren’t an issue)
• Caramel bits
• Toffee bits
• Caramel sauce
• Chocolate sauce
• Marshmallow Creme
• Cookie dough
• Dried fruit
• Dehydrated fruit
• Gummy bears or worms
• Cinnamon bears
• Ground cinnamon
• Vanilla bean paste
• Fruity pebbles
• Cocoa pebbles
• Corn flakes
• Honey nut Chex

I could go on and on! The possibilities are endless!

What you’ll need:

• Mason jar per child
• Tape
• Permanent marker

Ingredients:

• Heavy cream
• Sugar
• Vanilla extract
• Salt
• Toppings

Gather your ingredients and get them prepped ahead of time. This will make the project easier for you!

Steps:

1. Using tape and a sharpie, add each child’s name to the lid of the jar.

2. Add 1/2 cup heavy cream to each mason jar.

3. Add 1 tbsp sugar(or to desired sweetness), 1/2tsp vanilla extract, and a dash of salt to each jar.

4. Screw lid on tightly and let your kiddos shake the jars.

Shake shake shake!!

5. Check the cream with the back of a spoon. If it stays on the spoon, holding its shape, you’re ready to add the toppings. If it drains off the spoon, keep shaking.

Not ready yet!

Getting closer!

6. Once the cream is thickened enough, let your littles pick their toppings, toss them in the jars.

7. Give them a quick stir with a spoon, and pop them into the freezer!

Freeze for at least 3 hours.

*We checked the ice cream after an hour, and it had set pretty well, but not fully. (See image below)

After dinner, we pulled the ice cream out, and it was ready! Yay!

ENJOY!

*We started this mason jar ice cream project around 2pm, and it was perfect for an after-dinner treat!

We’d love to hear what flavor combinations you and your kiddos came up with! Feel free to let us know!