I can’t believe how much has happened since my last party blog post on my son Grayson’s Jungle-Themed First Birthday Party. Grayson is now three, and his brother Sawyer is now one! Needless to say, I have a few party posts coming for their last few parties. Today, I am sharing about Grayson’s second birthday party, which was an Ice Cream Social birthday theme. This is a party theme everyone will love, and it’s perfect for summer birthdays when you need a cool treat. In today’s post I’m sharing all the details and ice cream social ideas from our party, including the supplies and ingredients you’ll need, ice cream party decoration ideas, and links to free printables.
Disclosure: This post contains some affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and make a purchase, I may receive a commission. This does not cost you anything additional, and helps me to keep the rest of my content free, so thank you!
I will follow soon with his third birthday party, which was Disney/Pixar Cars (and a lot of fun!), and Sawyer’s first birthday party, which was a Rock n’ Roll theme. In the meantime, you can see inspiration for the planning of all of them, as well as some of the actual party pics on my Pinterest pinboards here.
Okie dokie, on to the blog at hand!
Ice Cream Social Birthday
Want a party that is enjoyable for both kids and adults alike? Well, who doesn’t love ice cream?! An ice cream social birthday is also a nice gender-neutral theme that can be adjusted with the kid’s favorite color. Most of the inspiration and editable/printable files (including fonts) came from this blog post on Eat & Drink Chic: DIY Ice-Cream Parlour “Make your own Sundaes” Buffet Concept for a Wedding or Party.
Ice Cream Social Birthday Printables:
These are all editable PDFs (if you have Illustrator or InDesign), so you can not only change the color, but the text as well. Note that I even personalized them to include my son’s name (Grayson’s Ice Cream Parlour). This blogger made these available for free for personal use! Don’t forget to credit her if you use them and blog about it.
- Ice Cream Parlour Sauce & Jar Labels
- Ice Cream Parlour Topping Labels
- Ice Cream Parlour Paddle Stick Labels
Fonts used (all free, yay!):
Ice Cream Social Birthday Supplies:
- Topping containers (I used larger sundae cups, like these)
- Oil and vinegar cruets (I used these for the sauces; not only did they look nice, they also helped control the speed and amount of sauce coming out – helpful for toddlers and young kids!)
- Scoops and tongs
- Ice cream dishes (this is optional; you can always just use disposable plastic bowls in your party’s color scheme)
- Napkins, bowls, spoons in your party’s preferred color scheme (I got mine from Party City)
- Balloons and other misc. decorations (I went to Party City and Michaels)
- Ice cream (get a few different flavors), ice cream cones, and toppings (from your grocery store; see the list below)
Ice Cream Bar Toppings:
- Chocolate sauce
- Caramel sauce
- Strawberry sauce
- Whipped cream
- Shaved coconut
- Chopped peanuts
- Other chopped nuts (pistachios, walnuts, macadamia, etc.)
- Sprinkles (a must for a kid’s party)
- Crumbled Oreos
- Mini marshmallows
- Maraschino cherries
- Fresh fruits of your choice (some good choices are strawberries, mangoes, pineapple, kiwi, peaches, and raspberries)
- Rolled wafers and Pocky sticks
You can also get creative with toppings to match a particular color scheme. For example, in this blog she goes with a pink theme and even incorporates pink meringues, coconut ice with pink food coloring, and other pink toppings.
More kid’s birthday party themes:
- Anime-Themed Birthday Party
- Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania At-Home Watch Party
- Bendy and the Ink Machine-Themed Birthday Party
- Classic Nintendo Birthday Party (Mario Bros., Zelda, Kirby and More)
- Clifford the Big Red Dog Birthday Party
- Construction-Themed Birthday Party
- Despicable Me / Minion Birthday Party
- Dinosaur-Themed Birthday Party
- Disney Cars Birthday Party
- DIY Escape Room Kid’s Birthday Party (with lots of escape room puzzle ideas)
- Dungeons and Dragons Birthday Party
- Emoji-Themed Birthday Party
- Kid’s Ice Cream Social Birthday Party
- Safari Themed 1st Birthday Party
- LEGO Movie-Themed Birthday Party
- Minecraft-Themed Birthday Party
- PAW Patrol Party Ideas
- Pokémon-Themed Birthday Party
- Power Rangers-Themed Birthday Party
- Rock and Roll Birthday Party
- Silent Disco Party (Fun 13th Birthday Party Theme)
- The Legend of Korra and Avatar: The Last Airbender Party
- Thomas the Train Birthday Party (with Free Thomas and Friends Birthday Printables)
- Tiger-Themed Birthday Party Planning Ideas
Justin Iserman says
I know I'm late to the party on this but how did your dispensers work out for the chocolate, caramel and strawberry syrups? I really like the idea but it seems like it might get clogged easily…
ramonaruby says
@Justin, I didn't have any problem with clogging, as it was just for a few hours. It seemed to pour just fine, and in fact, probably helped avoid kids over-doing the sauce since it pours slowly (like an oil/vinegar pour) than squirting from the bottle.