Ice Cream is a given in my house. There is ice cream for dessert, ice cream for family parties, and ice cream as a stress reliever.  My kids have enjoyed making Ziploc ice cream as a fun summer activity for years. Ice Cream is an essential part of childhood and you can create wonderful memories from making homemade ice cream together as a family. We recently discovered a cool new toy that gives an added dimension to homemade ice cream.

Simple Homemade Ice Cream

The Play and Freeze Ice Cream Maker by Industrial Revolution has a unique ball design with an interior, metal cylinder that gets insanely cold, and  helps to make ice cream much faster than the traditional Ziploc ice cream . An opening on one end of the ball opens the cylinder so that it can be filled with a simple mixture of cream, sugar, and whatever flavoring you would like to add to make delicious ice cream. An opening on the other end of the ball is filled with ice and rock salt and allows the ice mixture to surround the metal cylinder.

Interactive Ice Cream Making

There are many options available for homemade ice cream. Most of them involve storing yet another appliance in your kitchen and simply watching while the appliance makes the ice cream for you. The Play and Freeze Ice Cream Maker turns ice cream making into a family event. Roll, shake, or pass the play and freeze ice cream maker around. This is a great activity for camping trips or a family bbq.  The ball is heavy when it if full but my preschooler was able to shake it just fine. My toddler had a blast rolling and passing the ball. As tempting as it may be to throw or kick the ball, don’t. There is a warning on the back of the box that throwing or kicking the Play and Freeze ice cream maker may cause damage to the ball. The ball is pretty sturdy so a few throws on the grass aren’t likely to break the ball but you will want to be careful that younger kids don’t play too rough (How cool would a bouncy ball version of this be though).

Homemade Ice Cream in a Flash

I love the taste of homemade ice cream. You can create any of your favorite flavors without any of the extra preservatives that you find in the grocery store. You pick the ingredients and you know what goes into your ice cream. The basic ingredients, cream, sugar, vanilla, create a delicious ice cream on their own but you can add any of your favorite flavors to create something really special. Add a package of hot chocolate mix for a fun chocolate ice cream. Add a few spoonfuls of strawberry milk flavoring for a quick strawberry variation. Visit Icecreamrevolution.com for more great recipe ideas.

Mastermind Toys

The Play and Freeze Ice Cream Maker is just one of the great toys that you can find at Mastermind Toys. Mastermind Toys carries a wide variety of educational toys and games. They offer free shipping on orders over $75 to Canada or $5 flat rate shipping for orders over $75 to the U.S.