Summer is the time when ice cream is a favorite treat. There are many ways that parents and early childhood educators can use ice cream as a great tool for early learning skills. A simple activity to begin with when serving ice cream is to talk about the colors and flavors. You should have a variety of colors and flavors to choose from when beginning this activity. Set out several choices of ice cream in pink strawberry, brown chocolate, and green pistachio. White vanilla can also be added. have the children use combinations to make a sundae. The skill of putting objects in order and discovering how many combinations can be made is a possible math activity. Have the children put their choices of flavors in scoops for a sundae, and watch to see how many different scoops are put in a variety of orders: brown, white, green, pink: pink, brown, white, and green. Children will be excited to figure out how many combinations can be made.

An early science activity involves using the sense of taste. Children can vote on their favorite flavor of ice cream and the math skill of making a Favorites Graph continues the learning activity. Older children might like to explore how ice cream is made, and even the history of ice cream can be brought in as a topic for research with older children.

Ice cream is a treat for children and adults around the world.