Our school has just been remodeled and we plan on having a big open house celebration next month for the entire community. We are also kicking off our book fair that night. I would like to also have an ice cream social that night. Does anybody think that is too much in one night? My big question though is that I've never done or been to an ice cream social. How do you go about planning one? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Go for it, have it all, why not.

We had a ice cream sundae day last year and this is what we did. We figured out how many people we would be serving (estimated) and figured out what topping to have. Next we went to a local ice cream shop and asked them how much ice cream we would need for the amount of people. We made an agreement that any unopened tubs of ice cream could be returned. We bought the rest of the needs and asked for volunteers to scoop the ice cream and help with the toppings. The kids loved it. Good luck

kak, first off you should register with PTO today in order to recieve private emails.
Second, ice cream socials are alot of fun. I have done them the past 3 years. I don't know if you have a Friendly's Ice Cream shop, but they have sold us Sundaes for $ 1.00 a piece, pre scooped, cups for the last 3 years. They also provide all topping and utensils. They are wonderful. We sell the tickets for $ 1.25 per person. We average 400 sundaes at the social. It's a blast.

As a mother of two lactose intolerant (milk allergic) children, one suggestion: have some ice pops or italian ices available for the children who cannot eat ice cream. You would be surprised at the number of children with this problem who are often forgotten. The other option is fruit sorbet. Not sherbet--that has milk in it.

It may not be a problem at your school, but check with the school nurse. She could give you an idea of how many, if any you have.

The toppings also need to be chosen with the milk allergy in mind. Gummy bears, raisins, graham cracker crumbs, etc. all are acceptable.

Good luck!

At our ice cream socials, we have all the teachers bring their favorite sundae mix. They then, serve the ice cream. We charge $1.00 for each bowl.
We have everyone purchase $1.00 tickets, then they can go to the table of their choice and eat and eat!!

We too have had an ice cream social for the last couple of years. We did ours a little differently. The PTO paid for everything and it was free to the families of the school district. We went through Dairy Queen and received ready to serve ice cream for $0.45 per serving. We also purchased two types of toppings. Dairy Queen provided the spoons and napkins as well as coupons for free ice cream for every student. This was very affordable and the families enjoyed getting together before the start of the new school year. We had some older girl scouts come and do face painting for the children. It has been a lot of fun.