Ice Cream Floats for Seniors

For one of Sophia's 4-H projects this year, she made a variety of ice cream floats for seniors at a nursing home where we volunteer. The seniors enjoyed the variety of flavors of floats since they normally only offer root beer floats at activities there.

The first one that she made came from this pin on Pinterest which led to this site:

Creamsicle Float

2-4 cups vanilla ice cream
1 can (12 ounces) orange soda

In a tall glass, put as much ice cream as you want. Tilt the glass to the side and pour in the soda to reduce the foam and bubbles.

She also made a Cupid Float that was on Eclectically Vintage and this pin:

Cupid Float

2-3 scoops French vanilla ice cream
Cherry 7-Up
Whipped cream
Maraschino cherry

Scoop ice cream into a tall glass. Slowly pour 7-Up over ice cream. Swirl whipped cream on top. Top with a maraschino cherry. (For the floats that Sophia made, she didn't include the whipped cream or cherry since it is easier for the seniors to eat without them plus doesn't pose a choking hazard.)

A float that uses sherbet instead of ice cream provided a different taste. The pin led to Home Cooking Memories:

Lime Sherbet Float

2-3 scoops lime sherbet
1 can of lemon-lime soda

Use a clear glass and fill it with scoops of lime sherbet. If you don’t have clear glasses, you can use any cup or glass you might have, but having clear is nice so you can actually see all the green. You could use a pint-sized canning jar if you don’t have a clear glass.

Pour the lemon-lime soda over the sherbet you just placed in your glass.

A classic float, called the Purple Cow, was the first choice of several seniors. The pin for the recipe led to Simply Kierste:

Purple Cow (Grape Float)

2-4 cups vanilla ice cream
1 can (12 ounces) grape soda

In a tall glass, put as much ice cream as you want. Slowly pour the soda into the glass until you reach the top.

And, of course, we can't forget the standard root beer float as seen on this pin that led to Town and Country Magazine:

Root Beer Float

1 pint vanilla ice cream
2 bottles very cold old-fashioned root beer
Freshly whipped cream, for garnish (optional)

Spoon a few scoops of vanilla ice cream into 2 tall float glasses. Pour the root beer slowly over the ice cream and top with a dollop of whipped cream.