I is for Ice Cream, Yummy!

The Letter of the week is I.  Here are a few things you can do  using the letter I.

Sing letter I songs.

• Play letter I games, such as Inchworms:

Five inch worms inching up a tree (Wiggle five fingers)
Five insects invited them to see (Hold up other hand)
An Iguana inside the tree (Place one hand inside the other)
Use your imagination and you will see (Point finger to head)
All ten having fun in a tree (Wiggle all ten fingers)

Let your children move like inchworms to music (to move like an inchworm they would get on all four move their arms first causing their bodies to go low to the ground and then scoot legs forward)

• Do science using the letter I.

Melting Ice Chart

Have your children predict what will make ice melt the fastest (salt, cold water, hot water, salt water, nothing) Use each method on similar size chunks of ice and graph the result

• Eat letter I Foods, like ice cream, ice tea, and ice pops or make edible insects: Make an insect using celery sticks for the body, carrot legs, licorice antennas, and raisin eyes. To hold it all together use peanut butter.
• Do the letter I online activity

For your letter I page draw large block letter I.  Let  your child paint or color in the letter.  Look through magazines to find pictures that start with the letter I and paste them on the page. Or draw your I pictures. 

Lets make Ice Cream

Substitute two teaspoons pure vanilla extract if you don’t have a vanilla bean.

Yield

8 servings (serving size: 3/4 cup)

Ingredients

• 3 1/3  cups  2% reduced-fat milk
• 1  cup  half-and-half
• 1  (6-inch) vanilla bean, split lengthwise
• 1  cup  sugar
• 3  large egg yolks

Preparation

Combine milk and half-and-half in a medium, heavy saucepan. Scrape seeds from vanilla bean; add seeds and bean to pan. Bring milk mixture to a boil. Remove from heat. Remove bean; discard.

Combine sugar and egg yolks; beat with mixer at high speed until thick and pale. Gradually add half of hot milk mixture to sugar mixture, stirring constantly with a whisk. Return milk mixture to pan. Cook over medium-low heat 2 minutes or until thermometer registers 160°; stir constantly.

Place pan in an ice-filled bowl. Cool, stirring occasionally. Pour mixture into the freezer can of an ice-cream freezer; freeze according to manufacturer’s instructions. Spoon ice cream into a freezer-safe container; cover and freeze 1 hour or until firm.

 

Nutritional Information

Calories: 213 (30% from fat)

Fat: 7.1g (sat 4g,mono 2.3g,poly 0.5g)

Protein: 5.9g

Carbohydrate: 32.1g

Fiber: 0.0g

Cholesterol: 96mg

Iron: 0.3mg

Sodium: 76mg

Calcium: 186mg

• Nutrition: Discuss Nutritional Aspects of Ice Cream
  While the children are eating their ice cream, you may want to discuss:
  1. Ice cream is mostly composed of milk, which comes from the cow a wonderful farm animal.
  2. Ask the children what other products are derived from the milk: cheese, yogurt, butter (oil group). What are these products called as a food group? dairy products.
  3. Tell them milk is important to have healthy bones and teeth and much more!