Hot summer days and cool summer treats go hand in hand.   Those treats are even better when they are homemade, and they are the best when your kids can make them themselves.  Believe it or not, your kids will find it fun and easy to make their own homemade ice cream, and you’ll find peace of mind in knowing the exact ingredients that went into it.

Ice Cream Ingredients:

• 1 cup half and half (regular milk, soy milk, coconut or rice milk will work as well)
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Mix-in treats such as chocolate chips, fresh fruit, dried fruit, nuts, or even candy.

Supplies needed:

• 1 pint-size ziplock bag
• 1 gallon-size ziplock bag
• Ice cubes (enough to fill each gallon-size bag half full)
• 1/2 cup salt (Large granule Kosher or rock salt works best, but table salt will work as well.)

How to make it:

• Combine the half and half, sugar, and vanilla extract in the pint-size bag an seal it tightly.
• Next, combine the salt and ice in the gallon-size bag.
• Place the sealed pint sized bag inside of the gallon bag along with the ice and salt.  Seal the larger bag tightly.
• Shake the bags until the mixture hardens (about 5 minutes). You can tell when the ice cream is ready by squeezing the inner bag.  It’s ready when it is semi-firm – just like soft-serve ice cream.

The cool part is that you can eat the ice cream right out of the bag!  You can eat it as is, or you can mix in whatever treat you want for your own special flavor. Your kids will have fun coming up with their own custom flavors.  We encourage you to have your kids be creative.  Try peanut butter chips and banana pieces (a favorite among the kids here at the JM Cremp’s team), chocolate chips and raspberries, or blueberry and white chocolate chips.  Let us know (in the comments below) what your family’s favorite flavors are.

For other fun homemade ice cream makers check out the fun Mega Fun and Play Ice Cream Maker in both the quart size and the pint size.  These cool plastic balls make ice cream using the same method as described above, but instead of just shaking a bag, your kids can play games with the ball while the ice cream is being made.  Imagine playing catch and making ice cream at the same time!

Another fun ice cream treat for kids ages 2 to 100 is Astronaut Ice Cream.  It’s the same freeze-dried ice cream that astronauts take into space with them, but you can enjoy yours here on earth.  It’s a fun birthday gift for younger kids.