Homemade Ice Cream Root Beer Floats + FREE Summer Activity Planner!!

This post has been sponsored by A&W Root Beer. I received compensation and gifted product in order to complete this post but, all thoughts are my own!

HAPPY SUMMER families!

If you’re like most mamas I know, you have kids who’ve been totally excited for Summer break while you may be scrambling to figure out plans to keep them occupied during their time home!

HEY GIRL, HEY! That’s where I come in (& probably why you’re here)!

Even though we homeschool, Summer is always a season I love to hate and hate to love! The days are HOT (especially down here in Florida), the theme parks and beaches are crazy crowded, and Summer camps fill up FAST! I’m always ready for a break from lesson planning and long days but, that means I’m hearing “I’M BORED” 5 million, 6 hundred and 32 times a day!

When I was little like my boys, my family would host a week long Summer Camp for all of the cousins on my dad’s side of the family. IT WAS THE BEST. It was the one week that all 9 of us looked forward to each Summer and I had always envisioned doing the same for my kids once I became a parent. The only thing I didn’t consider was having only one sibling who wouldn’t plan on having kids ANY time near when I did. (Excuse me while I go nudge him again to hurry a proposal to his long time girlfriend who my family LOVES and wants babies from ASAP!) So, I’ve resorted to a Wentworth Family Bucket List that the boys and I update annually! Updating the list usually results in me spending countless hours online researching new places and projects for the boys, which coincide with their wishes on our bucket list!

This year, I opted out of a full blown Summer plan! Usually, I have each week HEAVILY planned with crafts, books, trips, and school work. Which just gets exhausting for me and we end up spending less time having fun as a family and more time sticking to a strict schedule! Since we decided to put K into a VPK program out of the home this coming year and get him enrolled in Kindergarten at a local school near us the following, I wanted this Summer to be more relaxed and focused on family time!

So, I created a Summer Planner that they can help me fill in each week and gives A TON more flexibility than my previous planning style!

My Summer Activity Planner has a guided weekly agenda, open pages for each week for you to fill in on your own or with your littles, Screen Time Contracts, basic Chore List, Hopes and Dreams chart, Reading Scavenger Hunt and Reading Chart, Bucket List, Daily Journal entries, and quiet time activities!

Laminate the Chore Chart and Screen Time Contract to save on paper and reuse daily!

CLICK HERE to get your FREE Summer Activity Planner!

My Summer Activity Planner can be used for ALL ages and includes a LONGGG list of our Summer Bucket List favorites! My personal favorite?! A simple and easy timeless treat, perfect for Friday nights when we unplug and recharge as a family-A&W Root Beer Floats!

Now I have you craving an A&W Root Beer Float, don’t I? 

Here’s the deal: We took A&W’s 100th Anniversary Family Fun Night Pledge on the first day of Summer to unplug and collectively recharge as a family for 1 hour each week on Friday nights! That’s it-JUST ONE HOUR to help us reconnect before the busy weekends and make us present to the moment! A&W is helping us keep to the pledge with the unique, creamy taste of Root Beer, making our family time even sweeter! We make ice cream from scratch (marking another thing off of our Summer Bucket List) and top it off with root beer and whipped cream!

A&W Root Beer Floats with Homemade Ice Cream:

• 1- 2 Liter Bottle of A&W Root Beer (Head HERE to take the pledge and get it FREE!)
• Homemade Ice Cream (recipe below)
• Whipped Cream

DIY Ice Cream Recipe: *Can be made Dairy Free

• 4 tbls Sugar
• 2 C Half & Half OR Vanilla Soy Milk for Dairy Free
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1 C Salt (rock salt, table salt, or coarse salt)
• 6 C Ice
• 1 Pint Sized Ziploc Bag (I recommend ones with the Slider)
• 1 Gallon Sized Ziploc Bag (I recommend ones with the Slider)

*We split the ingredients in half to make 2 separate bags for multiple little ones to make! You’ll need extra Ziploc Bags in this case.

1. 1. Fill your Gallon Ziploc bag 1/2 full with ice.
   2. Add the salt into your Gallon Ziploc with the ice. Set aside.
   3. Put half & half or soy milk, sugar, and vanilla extract into the pint sized Ziploc  bag and close tightly.
   4. Place the closed pint sized bag into the gallon one, and close it tightly.
   5. NOW, SHAKE it like a Polaroid picture! Shake the bag for about 5 minutes or until the mixture has hardened like ice cream!
   6. Add your ice cream to a glass, fill with A&W Root Beer, and top with whipped cream!

You can make your Friday nights even more fun with A&W’s limited edition Family Fun Night Box! With a silly dice game and collection of timeless novelty pieces, your littles will be excited for each Friday night unplug-session!