A few years ago, we were blessed to attend a huge Gingerbread house party at my mother’s church. There must have been at least 50 kids decorating houses, with every possible candy available for toppings. Lots of fun was had by all.
Church volunteers got together ahead of time to build the houses. Each house was constructed of 7 graham crackers with frosting for glue. This link gives instructions for assembling the little houses. It’s a good idea to put the houses together ahead of time so that the frosting-glue has time to harden before the kids begin decorating. I would also recommend placing each house on a piece of cardboard or a flattened cereal box covered with tin foil before decorating so that it is easy to transport.
Mix up plenty of extra frosting. Give each child a sandwich-sized ziploc bag of frosting for decorating. Squeeze out the extra air and put a rubber band around the top of the bag, if needed, to keep the frosting in the tip. Snip off a corner of the bag and let kids squeeze frosting liberally onto the roof and sides, as well as onto pieces of candy, until the roof and sides are covered. Each house will reflect its builder’s creativity!
We enjoyed this activity so much that we’ve made it an annual tradition in our home. Any kind of candy will do, but we love using festive vintage candy from the Farmer’s Market to achieve an old-fashioned look.
Throwing a Gingerbread House Party for kids is simple! You really don’t need to provide any food. You know the kids are going to be tasting gumdrops and licorice sticks anyway. Sugar does make one thirsty, so you will want to set out drinks, such as bottled water, hot chocolate or crowd-pleasing, inexpensive Preacher’s Wife Punch.
About Molly Evert
Writer Molly Evert is a wife and homeschooling mom to 6 kids, who range in age from 2 to 18. She runs an educational website, My Audio School (http://www.myaudioschool.com), providing access to the best in children's audio literature. She also blogs at CounterCultural Mom (http://www.counterculturalmom.com) and CounterCultural School (http://www.counterculturalschool.com).
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