Summer has officially arrived! And, with that comes the dog days of summer!
“Dress- Up” your favorite summer drink with flavored, colorful ice cubes!
Below are a few recipes that my kids loved (the whole family actually) that can perk up your day, cool off a hot, weary body; and, add a splash of fun and pep to a sizzling afternoon of high temperatures.
When the kids were little a neighbor gave us the Fruit Sparkle Ice Cubes recipe below that makes any day a party.
We “dressed” up our summer meals with these festive, colorful ice cubes.
You can use one color or a variety of colors. Use whatever matches the occasion or mood.
Research & Experimentation:
Kids LOVE to mix colors and experiment with what color will result in the melted liquid. For example, red and blue ice cubes not only produce an interesting flavor combination, but when they produce a purple drink when melted! Now how cool is that?
Ice cubes made in specialty ice cube trays produce fun shapes.
Hearts were our favorite!
Fruit Sparkle Ice Cubes
Mix one small package (small envelope) of powdered drink mix with 2/3 cup of sugar and 4 cups of water.
Pour into an ice cube tray and freeze. Any flavor can be used.
If several flavors are made you can put one of each flavor in a glass, making it more festive.
Examples: red and green at Christmas, red for Valentine’s Day, green for St. Patrick’s Day, red and blue for Patriotic days, pastel colors for Spring and Easter, orange for Halloween, etc.
Serve with a lemon-lime or ginger ale carbonated drink, poured over the top of the cubes.
* For a healthier, refreshing summer drink add fresh fruit to the above recipe or to plain water to make your drinks. You can also experiment with your favorite juices.
Example: Place one raspberry, blueberry, strawberry or a mint leaf, etc. in each ice cube tray section filled with water before you freeze.
* Another very fun, and healthy, summer drink is to serve low fat vanilla ice cream (or frozen yogurt) with orange juice!
* Or, throw in your favorite fruit, vanilla yogurt, some fruit juice or milk and ice cubes into a blender. This makes a delicious, refreshing smoothie drink!
Have fun! Experiment with the possibilities and stay cool!
This Blog Post is inspired from the book:
Over 500 Quick, Easy Activities for Adults and Children to Share
by Becky B. Baxa
If you would like more fun ideas to share with your children
(that do not require batteries or electronics )
you can purchase this 180 page book,
full of color photos, for $21.95
from Amazon.com
