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Using Ice Cream to Illustrate God’s Love: A Devotional for Kids

What do ice cream and God have to do with each other? A lot, apparently! You can use this yummy treat as a way to illustrate God’s love, protection and salvation to your children.


Summer is a great time to get outside with your kids and experience God’s wonderful world together.  A simple walk down the street is full of potential for talking about God’s greatness.  But did you know that dessert can also be an opportunity to share God’s love?  Here we will talk about a fun and creative idea for turning dessert into a devotional.

What you will need:

  • Clean hands 
  • Ice cream cones
  • You family’s favorite flavors of ice cream
  • Toppings of choice
  • LOTS of napkins!

Set the stage:

You may want to do this devotional with your kids outside as it can get messy.  First, serve everyone their favorite ice cream in a cone with their toppings of choice.  While everyone is eating, ask this question: 

“What do you think would happen if we all stopped licking our cones? Let’s see what will happen.  Everybody stop licking.”

As the ice cream starts to run down the sides ask,

“Why doesn’t it drip up?” and “How can we get it to stop dripping?” 

Let at least one drip make it to the ground and then have everyone lick off their cones and hands.

Apply God’s word:

As everyone finishes up, read the following verses –

Isaiah 53:6: “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

2 Timothy 1:9 “He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time.”

Isaiah 41:10 “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

Use these verses (and any others that the Lord lays on your heart) to help your children understand that we are all sinners. It is our nature to sin.  Like the ice cream running down the side of the cone, we want to go our own way – more than that, without God, we couldn’t stay away from sin if we wanted to. 

But the ice cream illustration also shows us that God loves us too much to leave us in that “dripping” and fallen state. Through Jesus, God intervened and “licked us up” from being apart from Him forever – just like the ice cream that fell to the ground. 

And once we are saved, God continues to uphold us, protect us, and keep us safe. 

Ask your kids to think about ways that God has protected them and kept their feet from stumbling (Proverbs 3:26) in recent days. Ask:

“Was there a time when they were tempted to sin, but didn’t?”

“Was there a moment when you could “hear” God’s words protecting you from doing something wrong?”

Give glory to God for “licking them up” and and saving them and for continually keeping them from sin.

Conclude by praying and thanking God for providing a solution to our “sin problem” through Jesus.

Image by StockSnap from Pixabay
This article is for informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for treatment from a qualified mental health professional. Cornerstones for Parents is not liable for any advice, tips, techniques, and recommendations the reader chooses to implement.

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About Laura

Laura Kuehn, LCSW

Laura is a licensed clinical social worker who offers individual therapy to women and moms in Connecticut. She is the author of More Than a Conqueror, A Christian Kid's Guide to Winning the War on Worry. Cornerstones for Parents is the place she combines some of the things she is most passionate about: God's word, parenting and mental health.

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