Science Skills Kids Learn When They Make and Eat Ice Cream

Learning Ingredients 

Young children do not spend much time in the kitchen cooking, so teaching them how a few ingredients can make certain foods is important for their understanding of food and how it’s made. It will also benefit your child’s science skills by teaching them what ingredients create reactions when combined. 

For this project, layout sugar, vanilla, and cream for the ice cream. Then, to produce the reaction, have a large and small plastic freezer bag, ice, and rock salt. Just like in science, it is also important to make sure your ingredients are measured out correctly. To ensure they are, use a measuring cup. These are all the ingredients and supplies you will need to make ice cream. 

Learning Measurements 

For many children, this will be their first exposure to measurements. Be patient with your child when you explain to them how much of each ingredient they need to use. If you would like to help them understand measurements further, you could make a few batches of ice cream using different measurements of each ingredient in each batch so they learn what will happen if too much cream is added or not enough sugar is used. This will be helpful knowledge to them as they continue to learn science because it will show them that when they do not follow exact measurements, the concoction that is produced will not be right. This will also educate them on the importance of following directions by showing them what can go wrong when they do not listen. 

If you want to make a few different batches, here are the measurements you should use. 

To make the ice cream correctly 

• ½ cup of cream 
• 1 tablespoon of sugar 
• ¼ teaspoon of vanilla extract 

To make the ice cream too creamy, replace the ½ cup of cream with 1 cup of cream. 

To make the ice cream too sweet, replace 1 tablespoon of sugar with 2 tablespoons of sugar.  

To make the ice cream less flavorful, do not add vanilla extract to the ice cream.  

Learning Teamwork Skills 

As kids age, there will be times when they will have to work with lab partners or a group of students in science class on a project. To help them understand what it is like working with another individual on a project, pretend to be their lab partner in this activity. Help them add and measure ingredients and take turns shaking the bag when working towards turning the ingredients into ice cream. This will teach them how to organize group work and to work as a team to reach a goal. 

Learning Chemical Reactions 

No matter if it is making ice cream or mixing elements in chemistry class, learning chemical reactions will help the educational development of a child. When making ice cream, your child may wonder what role salt and ice play in making your ingredients turn icy. Once your sugar, cream, and vanilla extract are added to the small plastic bag, it is now time to add salt and ice to your large plastic bag. Add 6 tablespoons of rock salt to the ice and then put the smaller plastic bag inside the larger one. Explain to your child that when salt is added to ice, it lowers the temperature of the ice, making the ice colder and the ingredients in the smaller bag icy when it is rapidly shaken. It will take around 5 to 10 minutes for the icy reaction to occur. 

To further expand your child’s knowledge of the importance of rock salt in making ice cream, try making one batch without the addition of salt. This will teach them how much harder it is to make ice cream without it and why it is necessary for the ice-cream-making process. 

Learning Food Combinations 

While ice cream is a fun activity to teach children about science, it is also important to share with them that not all science projects can be eaten. Once they understand that, it is safe to allow them to enjoy experimenting with science in food. Both cooking and baking require a basic knowledge of science. After your child has made ice cream by following the instructions, allow them to learn food combinations by adding toppings and other ingredients to their ice cream. This will give them the freedom to enhance the sweet treat in the way they see fit. It will also show them what tastes good together and what doesn’t. To help them with this, lay out some popular ice cream toppings such as sprinkles, chocolate syrup, and cherries, as well as some not-so-tasty ingredients like olive oil, beef jerky, or pepper. This will give them an entry-level understanding of proper food combinations. 

Suggestions 

If you are considering making ice cream with your child, some safety suggestions are recommended to follow. First, be sure they don’t have any dairy intolerances, if you are not sure, take them to be allergy tested before conducting this experiment. Secondly, because salt makes ice colder, wrap a towel around the bag before allowing your child to shake it. This will help to prevent any injuries. Lastly, make sure every child has their own spoon and bag of ice cream. This will ensure that germs are not being spread to other children. By following these suggestions you will help to make the experiment fun for everyone. 

To learn more about how you can teach science skills to your child by making ice cream, be sure to visit The Learning Experience’s YouTube Channel here!