Homemade Ice Cream

Here is a fun way to do science and create a cool treat!Materials:

• 1 gallon-size plastic bag 
• 1 pint-size plastic bag
• Ice
• 6 tablespoons of rock salt 
• ¼ of a teaspoon of vanilla 
• ½ of a cup of milk or half and half 
• 1 tablespoon of sugar 

Fill the larger bag with ice and rock salt. These ingredients should take up about half of the bag’s capacity. Next, fill the smaller bag with milk, sugar, and vanilla and seal it tightly.

Put the smaller bag into the larger bag and seal the larger bag securely. Give the bag to your child and instruct him or her to shake it until the mixture turns into ice cream. The amount of time that this process takes depends on the enthusiasm of your child, but it should take about five minutes of constant movement.

As your child is shaking his/her bag, ask him/her what he/she thinks is happening. Explain that ice cream is made out of the ingredients that you put in the bag and that he/she are causing these ingredients to transform into a solid by shaking them. Ask what their favorite thing about ice cream is and why.

Once the ice cream is finished, open the large bag and remove the smaller one. Carefully open the smaller bag and pour the ice cream into bowls.  Enjoy!


And parents...to learn more behind the science of ice cream visit the following link: 
http://www.icecreamnation.org/science-of-ice-cream/