Here’s the scoop...National Ice Cream Day is on Sunday, July 18th and we’re celebrating! Each year on the third Sunday in July (which also happens to be National Ice Cream Month), ice cream lovers across the nation celebrate this fun day by enjoying some refreshing, creamy and yummy goodness. Of course, we love any reason to celebrate around here especially, one that includes ice cream on a hot summer day. As part of our celebration and to get our little ones in the mood for the upcoming day, we decided to make a cute and fun ice cream garland using cut outs of colored paper. This ice cream scoop garland will work perfectly for an Ice Cream Day party or make a festive summer decoration that you can hang in your little one’s room or any where around the house.
Your little one can get creative and use colors they love and to create their favorite flavors. This activity can also serve as an opportunity to practice learning colors and counting as you hold each ice cream scoop up as well as work on your little one’s fine motor skills with cutting and gluing scoops and/or sprinkles.
Our little one’s needed some help placing dots of glue but were able to choose their “toppings” to place on the scoops. We were happy to be working with glue that dries clear as it was a little messy but enjoyed watching their faces as each sprinkle, Pom Pom and sequin was placed.
The garland is made by cutting out each part of the ice cream (scoop, cone, sprinkles) using a template and then layering each piece. We kept this activity simple by using the colored papers as scoops, cones and sprinkles. We chose to use Pom Poms and sequins for additional toppings but don't be afraid to experiment and customize each ice cream scoop and cone. You could paint toppings, add details to the toppings, add beads or buttons for a dimensional look, etc. You can be as creative as you'd like! Once all of your ice cream scoops are finished and glued to the cones you will make a small hole at the top, string them together and your garland is ready to be hung.
Plan to enjoy ice cream on National Ice Cream Day - make it a family night and have your dinner followed by an ice cream dessert or enjoy a few scoops as a snack during an afternoon picnic - and place your ice cream, garland to be displayed as part of the celebration and for your little ones to admire their special ice cream craft!
National Ice Cream Day Ice Cream Scoop Garland - What You'll Need
- Ice cream cutout template (we used this one); if you don't have a printer you could cut triangles as your ice cream cones slices and be creative with cutting ice cream scoops and topping cutouts or use the top of a jar to make circle scoops.
- Colored paper/cardstock/construction paper in varied colors (we used these pastels for scoops and sprinkles (linked here) and beige and brown from an paper assorted pack (linked here) for the cones and chocolate/caramel topping
- Additional items we used for sprinkles/toppings we used were sequins (linked here) and Pom Poms (linked here)
- Glue - we used Aleene's Quick Dry Tacky Glue (linked here) which was easy to use, dried quickly and clear
- Tissue Paper (if you'd like to make tassels to include in your garland - link here)
- Twine/String
- Scissors (brought out these toddler specified scissors to practice on the tissue paper for tassels, linked here)
- Hole puncher
Steps:
- Download the ice cream garland cutout template (here) and cut out each item in coordinating colors. Depending on how long you want your garland continue to cut until you have the quantity desired.
- Glue and layer the cutouts. We glued the sprinkles and toppings first to our ice cream scoops and then glued our scoops on to the cones. You can add as much or as little as you'd like to each scoop. Remember, you can also decorate the cone by adding lines or anything you’d like!
- Once it has dried, hole punch at the top of your ice cream scoop and weave your string to create your garland. Remember to leave string on each side so you will be able to hang it up.
- Have fun making these! Your little one may enjoy it so much they'll think it's the real thing.
Have fun and share with us! #LOCreativeCircle #mylittleowly
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