Ice Cream Cafe Play

So up here in Scotland, it looks like spring, but only from the cozy interior of your house: beautiful blue skies and bright sunshine give the impression of warmth, but once outside, the bitter gale-force wind and occasional hail stone shower quickly convinces you that it's not quite the right time to shed a few layers. Still, when you stay in, you could just about convince yourself that it's nearly summer. So I decided to set up a little summery cafe play for the boys this afternoon, having spotted this post by Play Create Explore a few weeks ago.

I've been really excited about trying the ice cream play dough, especially as the boys have a slight obsession with ice cream (eaten for dessert every time we go out for a meal with them). Plus, I have an unused, rejected bottle of hair conditioner in my bathroom cupboard and LOTS of cornflour in my kitchen. So I mixed up two batches of the recipe for ice cream play dough:
- 1 1/2 cup corn flour
- 3/4 cup hair conditioner
I left one batch as it was to make vanilla ice cream, and added 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder to the other one to make chocolate ice cream.

Our fake chocolate ice cream

Our fake vanilla ice cream

I gave the boys some of our blue and red coloured play rice, which we have been using up slowly since last summer, to use as sprinkles.
For the rest of the cafe supplies, we used our little wooden play cakes and some play plates and plastic spoons and cups. Ju also decided we would have a healthy option and brought some play apples to the cafe.

The boys loved creating ice cream sundaes using both vanilla and chocolate, sprinkling lots of coloured rice on top and around their creations, and also especially on the floor.

Ju scoops some vanilla "ice cream", sprinkles at the ready

Lilo enjoys a selection of goodies from our cafe

Three portions of vanilla and chocolate sundaes and one cake order ready for the hungry cafe customers

Cakes with a side of ice cream were also on the menu

I also enjoyed creating some special little vanilla and chocolate fudge goodies. Yum!

Seriously, who needs to queue at Krispy Kreme when you can do this at home? Best not eat them though. Right, Ju?

Ju cannot believe it's not real ice cream and keeps trying to have a sneaky lick at it