Homemade Ice Cream in a Bag (with Video)
Learn how to make real homemade ice cream in a bag — a fun summer activity (and treat) for kids!
Ice Cream in a Bag
Have you ever made your own homemade ice cream? There are lots of gadgets and ice cream makers for sale, but you actually don’t need any fancy equipment to make ice cream at home!
All you need are 4 simple ingredients and a few basic supplies to make ice cream in a bag! That’s right, you can make real homemade ice cream in a ziplock bag!
This is such a fun summer activity for kids because they can take the bag outside and shake it around, toss it, etc. In other words, they’ll burn lots of energy!
And when it’s all done, they can cool off with the delicious and refreshing ice cream they made!
How it Works: The Science Behind Ice Cream in a Bag
The cool thing (see what I did there?) about making ice cream in a ziplock bag is that it is a science lesson too!
The ice in the ziplock bag has to absorb energy from its environment in order to melt. Adding salt to the ice lowers the freezing point of ice from 32°F to about 20°F, so the ice needs to absorb even more energy to melt.
The ice absorbs heat (energy) from the ice cream ingredients which it comes into contact with, as well as the outside environment. As the ice absorbs heat from your ingredients, the ice cream begins to freeze.
So not only is ziplock bag ice cream lots of fun, but you can feel good about this treat in particular because it has educational value too! Win-win!
— Stacey
Ice Cream in a Bag Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons sugar
- 1 cup half and half
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons chocolate syrup
Supplies Used:
How to Make Ice Cream in a Bag
First, watch our quick 1-minute video to see how to make ziplock bag ice cream, then keep reading for photo step-by-step directions.
Click video to play:
Open a quart size bag and add sugar, half and half, vanilla extract and chocolate syrup. Seal the bag.
TIP: We love these handy Baggy Rack freezer bag holders because they keep the bag open and upright while we mix ingredients. There’s way less chance to make a mess!
Open gallon ziplock bag and fill halfway with ice. Sprinkle ½ cup of rock salt over the ice.
Place your quart sized bag inside the gallon bag and seal.
Double-check your bags to make sure they’re well-sealed. Shake the bags vigorously until ice cream forms. Enjoy!
We even made this fun step-by-step guide to make our ziplock bag ice cream:
Have you tried making ice cream with the ziplock bag method? Tell us what you think in the comments below!
Free Printable Copy of Ice Cream in a Bag Recipe
Homemade Ice Cream in a Bag
Learn how to make real homemade ice cream in a bag — a fun summer activity (and treat) for kids!
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons sugar
- 1 cup half and half
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons chocolate syrup
- Supplies Used:
- 1 Gallon Ziploc Bag
- 1 Quart Ziploc Bag
- Ice
- ½ cup rock salt
Instructions
- Add sugar, half and half, vanilla extract and chocolate syrup to quart sized freezer bag and seal tightly.
- Fill gallon freezer bag halfway with ice. Sprinkle ½ cup of rock salt over the ice.
- Place your quart sized bag inside the gallon bag and seal.
- Double-check your bags to make sure they're well-sealed. Shake bags vigorously until ice cream forms. Enjoy!
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
2Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 240Total Fat: 13gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 42mgSodium: 28378mgCarbohydrates: 28gFiber: 0gSugar: 25gProtein: 4g
More Kitchen Science and Sensory Play for Kids
If you liked this ziplock bag ice cream recipe, be sure to check out more of our favorite kitchen kids activities and sensory play recipes:
Jell-O Alphabet Sensory Bin
what is half and half?
i live in the Netherlands and don’t know where to compare with
Hi Eugenie,
Great question! It’s 10% cream (it can also be improvised by mixing half milk and half heavy cream).
It is easy to make except why do we need rock salt ? I made 2 put i in freazer without rock salt and one in freazer with rock salt and the one without rock salt tasted better th the one with rock salt
Hi Bryony, Rock salt helps lower the melting point for ice so we recommend it if your squishing/churning time will exceed that of the natural melting point of the ice. (Most home churn ice cream devices also recommend using rock ice for this reason.) If you’re able to churn the ice cream without the need for the rock salt, then that’s totally fine!
– Jennifer
Yes! Ice Cream in a Bag really does present a perfect learning opportunity – one that learners can really sink their teeth into. Thank you for mixing it in.
Brilliant idea. I always thought you needed certain equipment to make this. It’s good to know you dont
I have Oobleck I can tell you guys how to make it
What can be used for lactose free recipe
Hi Joan,
If you’re able to use lactose-free dairy milk, that will work fine in this recipe as it’s the fat that is important.
– Jennifer