I like the idea of ice cream sandwiches. It would save me from asking for topping, spoon, and bowl donations. We've already had a grocery store offer the ice cream. I don't think our kids will be disappointed because we've never had an ice cream social.

Our ice cream social/art show is combined with our PTO elections so the PTO purchases the ice cream and we do not charge. I am trying to figure the best way to handle the ice cream. Past presidents have purchased 70 half gallons (1/2 because larger containers are harder to scoop or get too mushy around the outside if thawed). I like the pre scooping idea. The sandwich idea sounds easy, but the kids love the toppings so they would be dissapointed. New marketing idea - sell organizations large ice cream balls to be used at such events Seriously, I am trying to figure out if I want to call a ice cream shop and see what it would cost to have them supply and man, but I fear loss of controll of the event. Know what I mean or am I being picky?

We bypassed the scooping altogether. We purchased ice cream sandwiches & handed them out. It's not the "typical" ice cream social, but the kids didn't seem to mind whatsoever. The mess was minimal, and we didn't need as many volunteers!

We have around 500 students at our school, and I think we purchased around 700 sandwiches. We found that many parents weren't as interested as the children were.

We combine our "Ice Cream Social" with our "Meet the Teacher" night - right before school starts. We needed something fairly quick & easy since parents/kids are visiting & touring the school. This worked well for us, and I think we'll do the same thing this year!

Ours is run by a local ice cream shop but the basic logistics would be the same. Ours happens to be in a couple weeks so I have the numbers handy too.
We pre sell tickets for $2.50 and $3.00 at the door. We call the ice cream place with the pre sell numbers( how many chocolate, vanilla, oreo and yougurt) they pre scoop these ahead of time.
We have two lines the night of the event one for pre sell where the freezer is full and they are just handed their ice cream. In the other line they wait while it is scooped right there. We then have the toppings in each line available (hot fudge, carmel, sprinkles, nuts, whip cream etc.).

At our fall one we sold 550 tickets and went through 11 tubs of ice cream. Not sure on the topping thing they provie that. Also each tub is approximately 50 single scooped ice creams if that helps.

We do this in conjunction with our book fair and its a big success. Also our teachers volunteer to do the toppings the kids love seeing the teachers.

If your doing it on your own and not going through someone I would still highly suggest pre scooping. Major time saver and the ice cream is hard and your arm is ready to fall off after a while. Get dads for this job.

we use to do it on our own where we pre scooped and put them on the cafeteria trays and put them in the cafeteria freezer. That helps too.

If you need any other info just hollar.

We had one 2 years back. To make sure we had enough ice cream and toppings and also to not have long lines and everyone coming in at one time, we asked that they RSVP with an arrival time indicated. The invite had various times (20 minutes intervals) and the family circled their arrival time. When families arrived, they were let in based upon their designated arrival time. We were also able to add the number of family members expected and we had more than enough ice cream.
If families arrive early, have things for them to do. A tour of the school, bulletin board with pictures of the previous school year, PTO material & membership forms, meet the principal, etc. Then while they are waiting for their turn for their ice cream, they are busy.
We had wonderful comments and the families really felt like they learned a lot about the school, the PTO's involvement and they had a treat to boot!

Hi! I was just elected PTO President for next year. Like other schools our turnout is usually on the low side. Next year, our PreK-2 will be moving in to a new school and I would like to do an ice cream social the week before school starts for the children and parents to visit the school, see the classrooms, meet the teachers, join the PTO, etc. There is approximately 240 students and I'm pretty sure I'm going to have donations for everything but how much do I ask for? I was estimating ice cream for about 950, too much or not enough? How much toppings do I get (hot fudge or chocolate syrup, strawberry, caramel, whipped topping and sprinkles)?

I am so excited and looking forward to next year, there's so much I want to do that has never been done before. Thanks to everybody on this site for giving me such wonderful ideas.