O Gingerbread!!!

In my classroom I always made Gingerbread Houses with my students.  It was always a fun time.  I carry the tradition on at home.  My Children make their own house each year.  I buy the Wilton Gingerbread Houses on sale at the end of the Holidays.  I can usually get them for around three bucks each.  I pack them away with my Christmas decorations in Jan. and pull them out the following November.

This year I decided to have a Gingerbread decorating party...  Ok, two Gingerbread decorating parties.  One for my daughter and her four classmates and another for my daughter and some of her closest buddies.  So my daughter made a total of three houses this year.  Next year I am planning on having a party for some of my friends which will include decorating minus the kids, some friendly competition, wine of course, and a few laughs...  so if you are a personal friend please buy a gingerbread house on sale this season and give it to me in Nov.  I will assemble and we can all decorate one night together!!!

For my daughter's parties I preassembled the gingerbread houses a few days before the event.  I made a total of 15 houses.  I think it took me a total of two hours to do.  I watched this youtube video that helped me very much!!!  I am a visual learner.  I do have some added tips.

Wrap a small piece of card board in red paper to place each house on.  I also added the icing to glue it to the platform.  This is what mine looked like:

I also think that the low fat graham crackers are easier to work with.

Rather thank make icing for each child that is often hard for little hands to work with, purchase the individual cookie icing packets. They dry like glue too.   Give each child their own packets, because as you can see from the picture below they become direct IV's into the mouth!!!  Start looking for icing sales all year long because they can be expensive if you are buying many...

The kids tend to eat and eat while they are decorating...  My kids eat pretty healthy, so I don't say much while they are eating while decorating.  You gotta let them live a few times a year!!!

I also had a few snacks...  mostly stuff for the hungry mommies... 

Really the only work involved is getting the houses done as well as getting your house cleaned so everyone can mess it up.  LOL!

I also made the kids a Christmas song CD with my daughter's favorite Christmas songs and another little craft for at home time. 

 

It was tons of fun to plan and do...  Hopefully I can do another adult version next year.

I have a page on Teaching Heart devoted to Gingerbread... Check it out here!