DIY Paper Ice Pops, Scented Craft, Scented Ice Pops, Craft Stick Craft, Popsicle Stick Craft, Birthday Craft, Summer Fun Activity, Sensory Craft, Crafting With Rind, Shredded Coconut Craft, Cocoa Powder Craft, Crushed Cereal Craft

Hi friends!

Today we have a cool craft for you. We’re making scented paper ice cream pops with fruit rind, cocoa powder, and a few other things! We love ice cream as much as the next person, but not the drippy mess my littles end with. = 0 Instead of rushing through ice cream before it melts, this version creates sensory play for little hands and a treat for their noses. They’ll experience texture, moisture, and yummy scents, all while “making” ice cream. This is ice cream they CAN play with! Even though you can’t eat it, the toppings are technically edible. And if you’d like to skip the sensory stuff and just make a cute ice pop garland, or make one after the sensory items are added, we show you that option too!

If you’re stumped on party fun, this would be a great activity for a kids birthday party. It could be a game where guests guess the scent or make it trickier by switching scents and colors lol. Lastly, it could be used to decorate a plain gift bag. Check out our scented pops below!

*Click on photos for closer look

What You'll Need

Construction Paper (brown, tan/ivory, white, yellow, green, orange, pink/red; makes 2-4 per sheet)
Citrus Fruit Rinds
Dried Coconut
Cocoa Powder
Red Cereal
Vanilla Extract (imitation ok)
Craft Sticks
Glue Stick & Liquid Glue
Paint Brush
Scissors
Pencil
Optional: Lemonade Powder, Kool-Aid Mix, or Other Scented Items Instead, Small Jar/Cup, Wipes, Newspaper/Table Cover

The Steps

These first 7 steps can be done in advance before the kiddos come to play.

Turn each sheet horizontally and fold in half.
Glue each half together.

3. Use a small jar/cup to trace the top part of the ice pop(optional).

4. Then use a popsicle stick or something else with a straight edge for the sides and bottom(optional).

5. Cut out the ice pop.

6. Use that 1st ice pop as a stencil/guide for the next ice pops. Depending on the size you can make 2-4 per sheet. Repeat with each sheet.

7. Cut out all the ice pops.

To make an outdoor hanging garland, skip the sensory items and move down to step 8.

Here comes the fun part!

Cover the play space with newspaper or table cover(preferably); clean up will be much easier.
Allow the kids to play with the coconut & powders, crush the cereal, and help grate rinds. They can taste and smell anything they’d like.
When they’re ready to create their ice pops, clean up the area enough to create a workspace.
Have the kids add liquid glue to their ice pops and spread with their fingers. They can clean off glue with a wipe.
Add the coconut to the white paper and press down.

6. Repeat with cocoa powder on the brown paper, crushed red cereal or Kool-Aid powder on the pink/red paper, and apply muliple coats of vanilla to the tan/ivory paper.

7. Then move on to the lemonade powder or grated lemon(we used both as the lemonade wasn’t as scented) on the yellow paper, grated lime on green paper, and orange, tangerine, or ruby red grapefruit(what we used) on the orange paper.

Let dry for 5-10 min

8. Add glue to half the stick and repeat with the rest.

9. IF you have sensory items glued on, carefully press the ice pop onto the craft stick, otherwise just press down.

Let dry 5-10 min

That’s it!

To create the garland look below.

Caution- placing the garland with sensory items outside, could attract insects. Ours was just up for the photo.

To create the garland use a hole punch and some string or twine. Loop the string from behind and through the hole again before moving on to the next ice pop.