We All Scream for Ice Cream!

Strawberry, vanilla, chocolate, or pistachio -- take your pick!

These cute cone decorations set the scene for sundae fun. Plus, they are a piece of cake to make!

What You'll Need:
hole punch, 10.5" paper cones, fishing line, tape, 6" Styrofoam balls, tissue paper, hot-glue gun and glue sticks, Styrofoam block, craft knife, wooden skewer or thin dowel, scissors

Make It:
1. Punch a hole on either side of the paper cone. Thread a piece of fishing line through each hole and secure line with a knot and a piece of tape inside the cone.
2. Cover a 6" Styrofoam ball with a sheet of tissue paper, securing paper on the bottom with hot glue.
3. Stack two pieces of matching tissue paper and push them into the center of the cone (it's okay if it's messy); lift paper away from the edge to glue it to the cone's interior.
4. Cut a square of Styrofoam from the block to fit the opening of the cone and hot-glue it into place.
5. Push the wooden skewer or dowel into the bottom of the ball and push the other end of the skewer or dowel into the Styrofoam square so that the ball sits on top of the cone; secure Styrofoam ball with hot glue.
6. Trim the ruffle of tissue paper that's protruding from the cone to make a scoop-like shape.
7. Hang the finished cones from the fishing line.

Download these colorful cone wrappers at parents.com/cone-wrappers.

Mimic an ice-cream shop! Offer children a choice of cup or cone and a selection of playful spoons.

Stock your sundae station with a bounty of fixings, including caramel and chocolate chips (less messy than syrup), fruit, sprinkles, and, of course, cherries to go on top!

Ice cream can go from rock hard to soft serve when you're scooping for a crowd -- especially in the heat! Pre-scoop and freeze perfectly portioned balls to make serving a snap.

Each child assembles an "ice cream cone" (a cone, a Wiffle ball, and a real cherry, which rests in a ball hole). The kids race to the finish with cones in hand. If a child drops the ball or cherry en route, she starts over. First one to the other side wins!

Play the find-your-flavor game. Divide kids into color- and flavor-coded teams and have them search for "scoops" around the yard. (Team Mint can search for green while Team Strawberry hunts for pink, etc.)

Download and print our scoop and cup labels below. Just cut out each scoop and glue it to a Popsicle stick. Then glue a label onto each cup and cut a slit in the bottom for kids to stick their sticks into.

To make these ice-cream impersonators, cut sandwiches from two types of bread with a cone-shaped cookie cutter. Slice them in two to mix and match halves.

Originally published in the June 2013 issue of Parents magazine.