Bubblegum Ice Cream Bars

Sometimes in the summer you need ice cream. This is what my children tell me. But, I’m the sort of mom that thinks a carton of vanilla ice cream isn’t a dessert in and of itself. It’s a canvas, waiting to be turned into an afternoon craft (read: anything to eek out a few minutes of focused activity from these rugrats of mine).

So, we opened our carton of ice cream and removed the paper sides from the block of sweet stuff, sliced it thick, then turned it into these fun little Bubblegum Ice Cream bars. This simple food craft was fun, and offers a great way to get kids of all ages involved in the process of creating their own treats. Here’s how you can do it at home:

1) Place a piece of parchment in front of each of your children. Give them 6-8 bubblegum balls.

2) Peel the carton from a rectangle-shaped box of vanilla ice cream. Press 5-6 jumbo wooden popscicle sticks halfway into the ice cream.

3) Working quickly, use a very sharp knife to cut the ice cream into 1 1/2-inch slices. Slice in a way that keeps your popscicle sticks into the center of each slice of ice cream.

4) Carefully transfer the ice cream pops your kids pieces of parchment.

5) Invite your kids to get messy now! Help them press their bubblegum balls all over the top of their ice cream.

6) Here’s the hard part! Return the ice cream to the freezer (send those kids outside to play!) for 30-60 minutes, to allow the ice cream bars to fully re-freeze.

7) Call the kids in and let them EAT their creations! Easy, fun, and deliciously creamy!

For more tasty treats to keep the kids cool, check out our roundup of 50 frozen summer recipes!