Ice Cream in a Bag

Ice cream is a great treat and so easy to make. This Instructable shows an easy, low tech method of making individual servings that can be made any time of the year, using just a few simple ingredients (though you can most certainly add any of your favorite toppings). This is a great activity to do with children to get them involved in the kitchen.

I am a Middle School Special Education teacher and through the COVID lockdown I published a daily video to encourage my students to find something awesome to do each day. The attached YouTube video is what I had posted one day for my students.

For the teachers and homeschoolers out there, there is an extensive list of scientific and mathematics skills that are being reinforced and observed with this activity, particularly with the need for the salt with the ice, along with easy extension activities that would hit upon language arts and social studies skills.

• 1 Cup Heavy Cream
• 1 Rounded Tablespoon Sugar
• A splash of Vanilla Extract
• Gallon Ziploc Bag
• Quart Ziploc Bag
• Ice (crushed ice is best)
• Rock Salt
• Dish Towel
• Your Favorite Ice Cream Toppings (optional)
• A mug to hold Ziploc bag (optional)

Fill the Gallon Ziploc bag roughly halfway with ice (crushed ice has more surface area and is better if you have it), then add a thin layer of rock salt. Give this a shake to mix the ice and salt.

The salt is important because it lowers the freezing point of the water making the mixture cold enough to turn the cream into ice cream.

In the quart ziploc bag add all the ice cream ingredients (Cream, Sugar & Vanilla). After closing the bag give it shake to mix all the ingredients.

*Pro-tip: Put your ziploc inside a mug to hold it upright so it doesn't all spill out while you're adding the ingredients.

You'll want to do is make sure that the bag containing the ice cream mixture has as much air squeezed out as you can and is well sealed, you don't want it accidently coming open while shaking.

Place the quart bag of the mixture inside the gallon bag of ice and close it.

Shake the gallon bag so that the quart bag is constantly covered with ice and is being constantly mixed. You will continue the shaking and rolling around process for the better part of 10 minutes. Make sure not to be too rough or squeeze too hard on the quart bag as you do not want it to bust open during this process.

Once you feel as though your ice cream is about the consistency of soft serve it is ready to be enjoyed. After removing the quart bag from the ice you will want to take the time to wipe it off with a dish rag or paper towel. If you don't, the salt from the ice mixture can find its way into the ice cream itself tainting the taste.

Enjoy your ice cream! At this point the ice cream can be enjoyed right out of the bag. Placing the bag inside a mug can help make it easier to handle and help prevent it from melting too fast. Hopefully you have shared the fun of making this with someone else, that time in the kitchen with family and friends can be powerful and build lasting memories, not to mention all the learning that can take place!

I made this YouTube video during the early days of the COVID lockdowns as one of my daily "Do Something Awesome" encouragement videos for my students that covers all the steps of making this ice cream.