Celebrate National Ice Cream Day on the third Sunday in July and enjoy sweet family fun all month long during National Ice Cream Month! Discover delicious recipes, creative ways to celebrate with your kids, fun ice cream facts, and more special ice cream-themed days to enjoy throughout July.
National Ice Cream Month was established in 1984 when President Ronald Reagan signed a proclamation recognizing July as a time to celebrate one of America's favorite frozen treats. Since then, families across the country have been scooping, sharing, and celebrating every July.
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Celebrate National Ice Cream Day with fun ideas, easy recipes, and creative ways to enjoy ice cream with your family. From DIY sundae bars to hands-on activities and quick treats, there’s something here for every kind of celebration.
📅 July Ice Cream Days to Celebrate
- July 1 🍨 Creative Ice Cream Flavors Day
- July 7 🍓 Strawberry Sundae Day
- July 17 🍑 Peach Ice Cream Day
- July 23 🍦 Vanilla Ice Cream Day | ✨ Sprinkle Day | 🥜 Peanut Butter and Chocolate Day 🍫
- July 25 🍫 Hot Fudge Sundae Day - Invented at C.C. Brown's DTLA
- July 26 ☕ Coffee Milkshake Day
🎉 Celebrate National Ice Cream Day with Macaroni KID
- Create Your Own Ice Cream Sundae Bar
- Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches
- Skillet Cookie Ice Cream Sundae Treat
- Ice Cream Sandwich Sundae Trifle Recipe
- Ice Cream Quick Bread Recipe
🥄 Looking for more family-fun ways to enjoy ice cream?
- Family Fun ways to Celebrate National Ice Cream Month in July
- 🍦Get the Scoop on Yummy Frozen Treats: Conejo Valley-Malibu-Calabasas
- Ultimate Frozen Treats: Cool Recipes for Kids & Families
- 5 Super Yummy Ways for your Family To Enjoy Ice Cream This Summer
- Make Ice Cream in a Bag with Your Kids in Just 15 Minutes
- Kids Will Love to Make This DIY Frozen Hot Cocoa Ice Cream
- Sneak Some Zucchini Into Your Kids' Ice Cream for a Healthy Treat
 Lina Tomulescu via Canva |
🍨 Ice Cream Legends and Early History
- Marco Polo in 1295: According to a popular legend, Marco Polo returned to Italy from China with recipes for frozen desserts. While many historians dispute this story, it has long been part of ice cream folklore
- Catherine de Medici: Legend says she introduced frozen desserts to the French court when she married the future King Henry II of France. Historians have found little evidence to support the story, but it remains a well-known part of ice cream history.
- Charles I of England: Another popular tale claims that Charles I helped popularize ice cream in England after discovering it in France. Like the stories of Marco Polo and Catherine de Medici, this tradition is widely considered unverified.
🍦 Ice Cream Through the Years
- George Washington: The first recorded ice cream in America was enjoyed by George Washington, who reportedly spent a large amount of money on the treat during a single summer in the late 1700s.
- Governor Bladen of Maryland: Originally from England, he served ice cream to his guests. Seventy-six years later, New York City opened its first ice cream parlor.
- Thomas Jefferson: He is credited with one of the earliest known vanilla ice cream recipes in the United States, inspired by recipes he discovered while living in France.
🍦 Ice Cream Fun Facts: Cones, Sundaes and Sweet Traditions
- Chocolate syrup was added to ice cream in the late 1800s, helping pave the way for the modern sundae.
- In 1903, Italo Marchiony, a man who sold ice cream from a pushcart in New York City, patented a pastry cup designed to hold ice cream. He created the waffle cup after customers often walked off with or broke the glass dishes he used to serve ice cream.
- The ice cream cone became popular at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis, when a waffle vendor teamed up with an ice cream seller who ran out of dishes.
- The average American eats about 20 pounds of ice cream per year, with vanilla still ranking as the most popular flavor.
- Originally a treat only the wealthy could enjoy, ice cream is now widely accessible and enjoyed by many. Celebrate National Ice Cream Day by sharing a bit of history along with a bowl of this creamy dessert!
🌴 Ice Cream Fun Facts: California and SoCal Connections
- Southern California soda fountains helped popularize early versions of the ice cream sundae in the late 1800s, with several cities, including Los Angeles, claiming to be part of its origin story.
- Soda fountains across California became social hubs in the early 1900s, serving ice cream sodas, sundaes, and floats to beachgoers and families year-round.
- Baskin-Robbins was founded in Glendale, California in 1945 and helped popularize the idea of offering dozens of ice cream flavors in one shop.
- Thrifty Ice Cream began in Los Angeles drugstores and remains a nostalgic California favorite, known for its iconic scoop counters.
- McConnell’s Fine Ice Creams began in Santa Barbara in 1949 and is known for small-batch ice cream made with local dairy.
- California’s dairy industry and warm climate helped make it a major hub for ice cream production and consumption on the West Coast.
- Today, California is consistently among the top ice cream-consuming states in the U.S., thanks to its long warm seasons and tourism culture.
- Vanilla remains California’s most popular ice cream flavor, followed by chocolate and strawberry, with cookies and cream and cookie dough also ranking high in popularity.
 snapphoto from Getty Images Signature |
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