Let’s Have the Best Ice Cream Party Now!

On Sunday, I set out to host the best ice cream party for my two grandkids. It was a shameless bribe.

Earlier that year, I had made story cards and the kids were challenged to create stories from them. Since the “game” seemed suspiciously like schoolwork, I promised an ice cream party after a certain number of stories had been told.

They delivered, so I delivered.

Excited, Little N asked, “Can we have party hats?” “We could ring a bell and shoot off a confetti cannon…”

I aim to please.

Party Hats for the Ice Cream Party

First, party hats. I found these “Back to School Celebration Crowns” to make with a Cricut cutting machine. The numbers designate each child’s grade in school.

If you don’t have a Cricut, take any party hat crown, embellish it with a starburst cut from cardstock, and add the child’s grade with cut-out letters or a felt pen.

The Confetti Cannon

The confetti cannon stumped me; so I turned to google. Once I learned what it was, it seemed a little extravagant for a simple family party. Still, the confetti cannon I ended up buying came as a set of five tubes–enough for more than one celebration.

As it turned out, when questioned at the party, Little N didn’t remember mentioning confetti cannons and didn’t know what it was. So it’s a mystery as to how he even came up with the idea, but it was a really good one, setting the stage for our little celebration!

Setting the Stage for the Best Ice Cream Party

For a themed centerpiece, I made ice cream cones using styrofoam balls and cardstock. They were arranged with geraniums, snipped from pots in our atrium, in a French flower bucket.

Since the flowers need water but the cardstock cones would get wet, I put the geraniums in a separate tall vase and set it into the bucket. To lift the ice cream cones above the bucket rim, I surrounded the inner vase with crumpled newspapers and arranged the cones on the newspaper.

You could do the same thing with a ceramic pitcher or any opaque vase, setting a smaller vase into the pitcher for the fresh flowers and surrounding with ice cream cones.

We blew up balloons with leftover helium from a previous party and tied the balloons to chair backs. Miss T tied one to her scrunchie and Little N, to his crown.

Ingredients for the Best Ice Cream Party

We bought pint containers of the children’s favorite ice cream flavors: cookie dough and Oreo for Miss T; strawberry and mint chocolate chip for Little N. A half gallon of vanilla ice cream served everyone else.

Of course you don’t need all of these, but here are some ideas for fixings:

Fruit Toppings

• Berries, such as strawberry slices, blueberries, and raspberries
• Banana slices–toss in orange juice or lemon juice to prevent browning

Sauces

• Strawberry
• Chocolate
• Caramel

Chunky Add-Ons

• Mini marshmallows
• Mini chocolate chips
• M&Ms in mini size
• Brownie bites
• Crumbled cake
• Crumbled graham crackers

Traditional Toppings

• Various kinds of sprinkles
• Chopped toasted nuts
• Toasted coconut
• Aerosol real whipped cream (more fun to squirt than scoop from a bowl)

Setting Up

Pre-scoop the ice cream onto quarter-sheet pans lined with parchment paper and freeze. Kids won’t have to wait for you to scoop ice cream at party time.

Chill plates or bowls in advance in the fridge, or better yet, the freezer if the plates can tolerate it. I used rimmed soup plates so kids can have a lot of space to add their fixings.

Put the toppings in muffin tins, and provide small spoons for scooping. Spoon the sauces into bowls or use squeeze bottles.

Ice Cream Games

Here are two party games you could play at your ice cream party:

Pin the Ice Cream on the Cone

Cut out a cone shape from cardstock and use a marker to draw on cone lines. Cut colored circles from cardstock using a plate as a guide. Use blue painter’s tape in rolled tape loops to tape the cone to a wall and to adhere each ice cream ball.

Blindfold the kids, give them the ice cream balls and have them find the cone!

Ice Cream Relay Race

Set a styrofoam ice cream ball on a spoon and run a race. Get parents involved in a relay.

An Annual Summer Party for the Grandkids

While summer is over and the grandkids are back in school, it’s not too late for an ice cream back-to-school celebration.

This is our third year of hosting a summer party for the grandkids. The tradition began that first year as a morale booster for the kids during the pandemic:

• 2020 pandemic party: I wanted to celebrate Miss T’s last day of home school. Normally, there would have been an end-of-school party at her regular school. Since there would be none during this pandemic year, I set up an afternoon of games outdoors, including prizes, balloons and face painting.

• 2021 Camp Grandma Party: Our most elaborate party was to celebrate the end of Camp Grandma, grandma’s summer camp for the children when they didn’t go to day camp because of Covid concerns. It included camp completion certificates, T-shirts, games, and county fair-style food.

A party just for the grandkids–for no special occasion–is fun for the whole family and a special way to give the grandkids an event to look forward to each year.

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