Mess Free Ice Cream Cone Sensory Bin

Today is national Ice Cream Cone Day and I am here to celebrate! I really love ice cream and can’t think of a time that I wouldn’t enjoy a nice scoop. Any chocolate and peanut butter combo really speaks to me, but I’m game to try a wide variety just for a new experience. Now that I’m practically drooling, let’s talk about today’s activity.

Do you ever have paper clutter at your house? My kids love to color and write notes for themselves and the rest of us, but that means we have A LOT of paper everywhere. When it’s time to declutter, I give them a limit of how many special pieces we can keep, and then they get to sort through every paper and decide what stays. If they don’t want to help decide what stays, I just toss everything into the trash.

We were in the process of getting rid of some paper when this wonderful idea came to us.

Here’s what you need

• Paper. Any paper would do, but it was fun to use old artwork and I love a good upcycle moment.

• Sensory bin. This helped keep everything contained and made clean up so quick.

• Magnetic tiles. We have Connetix and Magna-Tiles. Both are great, but Connetix has stronger magnets and you can build taller towers, but they come with a higher price tag.

• Ice cream/cookie scoops. I like to have a variety of sizes.

• Tape if you want to make cones out of paper.

Set up

2-5 minutes.

1. Rip up paper and crinkle into balls. Place into a sensory bin.

2. Set out scoops and magnetic tile triangles.

Clean up

1 minute

1. Recycle or throw away all of the paper.

2. Clean up magnetic tiles.

This activity was awesome and lasted for quite a long time. It was baby friendly, and we had plenty of paper to go around, so no fighting over materials! We made different “flavors” of ice cream depending on the color of the paper and the girls loved scooping it into the cones.

To make the cones, either roll up some paper and use tape to secure or use the magnetic tiles. I preferred the tile option because they were more robust and could hold more scoops of ice cream.

Make the cones by placing the long sides of 3 isosceles triangles together as shown above. Bring the outside triangles together to make a cone/pyramid without a bottom. This is one of our most created shapes at home for the last 9 months, so maybe that speaks to how much we pretend to eat ice cream!

We used the sensory bin as a bowl to make the ice cream, scooped it into a cone, and then added toppings. This gives the kids a great opportunity to practice asking for what they want and “ordering”. I remember being terrified as a child of ordering at a restaurant, so I like to practice these types of real-life scenarios that can translate into asking for something at school, the farmer’s market, or when we visit family or friends.

Even Ellette got in on the action and was loving it! I would scoop up some of the paper balls and sprinkle them on her arm, let her move the paper around, and have her hold the scoops. She was too little when we took these pictures to actually get any scoops in the cone, but it was fun for her to join in an age-appropriate way.

I can always tell my mood is much better when everyone participates in the same activity without anyone getting hurt. Maybe because I get to sit down for a few minutes or because I’m reminded of how sweet it is to witness your children playing together. These moments don’t come every day and sometimes feel like will never come again, so I’m trying to cherish them while I can.

If you look closely in the picture below you can see the ice cream stuffed inside the tile cone with some magnetic ice cream on top. To make the magnetic ice cream, use the equilateral triangles in the same pattern you used for the cone and connect that to the top of the cone.

The cookie scoops were a great way to practice hand strength and getting all of the paper in the cone offered wonderful hand-eye coordination. Everyone stayed entertained for quite a while and this was a breeze to clean up!

You can add in learning on colors, counting, and shapes with some of these ideas:

• make cones out of only one color

• if you have colored paper, try to match the ice cream cone color to the ice cream that gets scooped inside

• count how many scoops fit in one cone

• roll a die to determine how many scoops each person can add to their cone, take turns to see who fills up the cone first

• try making cones out of different materials or sizes of paper

This activity is mess free and can be used any time of year to make an ice cream store or some other version of pretend play. It can be used for a wide age range and provides natural opportunities for learning about manners and speaking up for yourself. That’s a lot of good stuff for starting with some scrap paper!

Happy National Ice Cream Cone Day 2022. I hope you find the opportunity to grab a scoop or two of your favorite flavor in your cone of choice. I’m a waffle and sugar cone girl myself, but I hold no judgement for your ice cream cone selection. Comment below what your ideal ice cream cone order would be and share this post with someone who could use an easy-clean activity for kids.

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