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You are here: Home / PreK-K / Pretend Play: Preschool Ice Cream Store

Pretend Play: Preschool Ice Cream Store

July 23, 2015 by Maureen Spell 27 Comments


We have been having fun with our toddler and preschool ice cream theme. Whenever we go to the ice cream store, my girls are fascinated with all the colors and flavors of ice cream available. I knew they would have so much fun running their own ice cream shop. With just a little advanced preparation, toddlers and preschoolers can run their own ice cream store right in their own home—or outside, which is where my girls set up their shop.


First make sure to have several “flavors” of ice cream made ahead of time. Our ice cream consisted of 4 scented playdough creations.
icecreamflavors
I made one batch of vanilla-scented playdough. I used my regular playdough recipe and added some vanilla extract to the water. One batch fits perfectly in a pint container.  The chocolate playdough smells soooo good! I used the chocolate playdough recipe from Pre-Kinders.  Mint was the basic version plus mint extract, and for the strawberry—I forgot to buy the strawberry-flavored Kool-aid—but that’s what I would have used. Doesn’t it look good?
icecreamshopmenuI made a little menu so the girls could take ice cream orders.

icecreamshopmenu2I’ll have a sundae please! 🙂 I printed this on cardstock and laminated. The girls used a dry-erase marker, but a wet-erase or dry-erase crayon would work too.

scoopingicecream
I picked up a couple of ice cream scoops and bowls from the Dollar Tree.

servingicecream
It’s hard work scooping out ice cream! I love how her little tongue sticks out when concentrating. She was very excited about having a pretend playdough ice cream party!
playdoughicecream
I filled an empty Hershey’s Cocoa container with pieces of brown string. The girls pretended this was chocolate syrup.
eatingicecream2
Doesn’t the playdough ice cream look real?
icecreamsmile
The nice thing is that this kind of ice cream does not melt. And you can use it more than once. I’m sure we’ll be playing ice cream shop many more times this summer!
icecreammenuweb

(click to download the ice-cream shop menu and labels)

click for more ice-cream ideas

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Filed Under: PreK-K, printables Tagged With: ice cream, letter I

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Comments

  1. Savannah says

    June 8, 2011 at 12:21 pm

    great idea!

    Reply
  2. Michelle says

    June 8, 2011 at 3:01 pm

    So fun, colorful and yummy looking! Love that the play dough can be scooped into a ball.

    Reply
  3. Mama Jenn says

    June 8, 2011 at 4:31 pm

    This is too stinkin cute! LOVE IT!!!!!

    Reply
  4. Rachel E. says

    June 8, 2011 at 5:17 pm

    So cute! I love your ideas…and that little girl is so squeeze-ably cute. But, of course you know that.

    Reply
  5. Stef Layton says

    June 8, 2011 at 10:46 pm

    could you be any more fun ??

    Reply
  6. Katie says

    June 8, 2011 at 11:31 pm

    This is darling! Where did you get the pint containers for the playdoh?

    Reply
  7. Confessions Of A Homeschooler says

    June 9, 2011 at 4:53 pm

    That's too cute, my daughters would love it!

    Reply
  8. Jackie H. says

    June 9, 2011 at 9:44 pm

    I love this one too. I'm loving your icecream unit… maybe it's my huge love of icecream that draws me to this study! 🙂 We like to do storytime playdates with our friends. Some of these icecream ideas would be perfect for an icecream social playdate!

    Reply
  9. Mozer says

    June 9, 2011 at 11:33 pm

    I got the pint containers at The Dollar Tree, but you can pick up any old plastic container.

    I'm glad you all are getting some ideas! The girls and I have been having fun with this unit.

    Reply
  10. Giggly Girls says

    June 10, 2011 at 11:22 am

    Wow, you are the coolest mom. I happen to have those ice cream dishes so I might just have to be cool like you and get this set up.

    Reply
  11. jess_hak says

    June 10, 2011 at 4:14 pm

    I love, love, LOVE this! I was thinking about doing an ice cream unit this summer for fun and this just made up my mind to do it. We will definitely be using your ideas. So cute! 🙂

    Reply
  12. Tina Peterson says

    June 13, 2011 at 9:38 am

    What a fun activity. I think I'm going to send it to my sister for her to use in her daycare. Do you have the recipe for the kool aid playdo? I haven't seen the recipe for years and it's one of the best. I know you use kool aid packs, flour, water and you have to cook it on the stove. That's it.

    I'm going to add your button to Family Literacy and you and forward it to the montessori school I work with.

    Thanks! Tina "The Book lady"
    http://familyliteracyandyou.blogspot.com

    Reply
  13. Allie says

    June 14, 2011 at 1:25 am

    Great minds think alike – I just bought these dishes at the dollar store for the exact same purpose!

    I will link this post in mine when I do it 😉

    Reply
  14. Michelle says

    June 17, 2011 at 4:01 am

    I soooo love this! 🙂 Featuring it on this week's High paw. Thanks for adding it to the linky Maureen! 🙂

    Reply
  15. sandi says

    June 17, 2011 at 12:09 pm

    thanks – my kindergarten students will love the ice cream menu

    Reply
  16. Angie says

    June 21, 2011 at 5:17 pm

    too cute!

    Reply
  17. Ilene says

    June 24, 2011 at 2:56 pm

    Just wondering if you have my recipe for Ice Cream In a Bag. It's a great summer activity (and treat) for the kids! It fits in with your unit, too.

    http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/8107437/ice_cream_in_a_bag.html?cat=25

    Reply
  18. Terri says

    July 2, 2011 at 12:10 am

    I love all these ideas! We're starting on an ice cream unit next week… it will be perfect for summer. I'm definitely using a lot of your ideas! Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  19. Tamara says

    July 6, 2011 at 2:53 am

    So adorable! My daughter would love this. 🙂

    Reply
  20. Christianne @ Little Page Turners says

    July 24, 2011 at 9:26 pm

    Thanks for the printables and inspiration! http://littlepageturners.blogspot.com/2011/07/ice-cream-birthday.html

    Reply
  21. Alex says

    December 29, 2011 at 12:23 pm

    How Creative!

    Reply
  22. Trudy says

    November 2, 2012 at 4:48 am

    Maureen,
    Just a courtesy note to let you know I have pinned your “Preschool ice cream store” post to a pinterest board with a collection of learning resources to support learning through playing ice cream shops. You will find lesson ideas, learning activities and resources on my boards. You can view my boards at http://pinterest.com/fingerpprojects/
    Warm Regards
    Trudy

    Reply
    • Maureen says

      November 2, 2012 at 8:09 pm

      Thanks for including my post Trudy!

      Reply
  23. Meghan says

    April 11, 2015 at 8:29 am

    I LOVE this! My girls would too – such a cute idea. Found you on StumbleUpon – I love that I find great content like this, that I might never otherwise!

    Reply
  24. Michelle Robertson says

    June 16, 2016 at 11:36 am

    I I love this idea and would like to give it as a b-day present but when I click on the link to print the ice cream menu it isn’t working. am I clicking on the wrong place?

    Reply
    • Maureen Spell says

      June 20, 2016 at 7:09 pm

      You can find all the ice-cream themed printables here http://www.hsprintables.com/icecream.html

      Reply
  25. theophilus says

    June 22, 2016 at 8:41 am

    I love to give the idea a try…

    Reply

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