9 Steps to Hosting a Virtual Ice Cream Social
I love to plan. Birthday parties, dinner menus, fun activities, school events, travel itineraries, outfits…you name it and I love to do it! I’m not the best at impromptu anything so if my children were to list my faults as a mother one fault would surely be that they don’t get to have friends over nearly enough. I try to remedy this with fun birthday parties and group activities…you know, anything that I can plan; preferably out of my house! Lately, weekly Google Meet or Zoom parties have become popular for the elementary school set…think trivia, dance parties or “minute to win it” games. With these in mind, I decided to take it a step further and create something memorable for our kids and some of their classmates. Read on for my TAKE on a Virtual Ice Cream Social!
9 Steps to Hosting a Virtual Ice Cream Social
Make a guest list
My only criteria for our ice cream social was that all guests had to be local as we would be delivering supplies. However, classmates, family friends or relatives would all be appropriate!
Make a list of supplies
This is based on preference but some ideas are: ice cream, ice cream cones, napkins, sprinkles, maraschino cherries etc…
Order non perishable supplies
For our party I opted to order these fun ice cream dessert bowls and spoons for our friends. However if you wanted to order something a bit more gender neutral and cost effective (depending on your quantity needed) I love this paper polka dot set.
I also ordered these kraft paper bags to put the party supplies in for each family but ice cream bags would be cute too!
Order perishable online via Instacart
As we’re under a shelter at home order and doing our very best to only leave our house occasionally I ordered everything but the ice cream from Instacart. Think hot fudge, sprinkles, Reddi Whip etc… In standard Instacart fashion not all of the products are the brands I requested but they were able to fulfill the order!
Pre-order Ice Cream or Custard
Part of my goal in devising this virtual ice cream social was to be able to support a local business. With that in mind I pre-ordered chocolate and vanilla pints of custard from a favorite local business, Scooter’s Frozen Custard. I did have to pick the pints up but the shop has an outdoor walk up window which made it extra quick and I could schedule pick up for the date we would be doing our delivery drop offs.
Make Invitations
I made an invitation template and the kids got involved by adding some stickers and then we had homemade invites to attach to each bag.
Package + Delivery
We picked up the custard and made an assembly line and packed up the supplies in each bag while in the back of our car and set out to deliver a surprise package to some friends. Deliveries were made a couple of days before the date of the social to ensure guests could attend.
Create a set of Questions to Center the Party
A bunch of elementary kids and ice cream is sure to be raucous maybe even more so virtually. We came up with a bunch of questions and a game to at least focus some of the party. Of course, these questions are ice cream themed…What is your favorite flavor? What are your favorite toppings? What is the difference between ice cream and custard? The list goes on!
Set up Virtual Meeting + Share with Friends
Use Google Meet or Zoom to send out a meeting link with friends to join at the confirmed time and have a blast!
If you wanted to add another layer to the party or do this for one of your kids birthdays’ there are also some great ice cream DIY crafts, craft kits and even a paint-your-own ice cream truck!
For me, one of the most challenging things about COVID-19 pandemic and sheltering in place is the uncertainty of it all and the inability to make plans and really have the opportunity to look forward to something. Planning and coordinating this virtual ice cream social was some of the most fun I’ve had in weeks. It was something that I knew would bring joy to other people and the kids were excited, engaged and I was motivated to put my energy towards something other than cooking and cleaning. Dropping these packages off at our friends home and seeing their surprised faces (from afar) was truly the cherry on top! Hope you love and can adapt this idea for friends and family in your lives! Stay safe and healthy my friends.
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