Oriental Trading Gingerbread House

Once upon a time…

We decided that making gingerbread houses was something we wanted to tackle.  Locating recipes to make the gingerbread and the royal icing before the Internet required a different type of research, but we finally compiled everything necessary to embark on our first gingerbread house with the exception of one elusive ingredient.  One ingredient was not going to stop us, so we proceeded with what we had, after all, one ingredient wasn’t going to really make a difference.

Our gingerbread house turned into a DISASTER because of one ingredient.  We ended up hot gluing and invisible props like cans of food and toothpicks to create that first MESS!

We have come a long way since then, to perfecting everything gingerbread.  Each year class parties for the children provide memories for parents and children alike.  The class parties for our two kiddos are the envy of the school.  All teachers, students, and parents, want to be in the same class for this one experience.

Realizing a true gingerbread house building opportunity is not available to everyone, we set out to find a way for students to experience the joy of creating this time honored holiday tradition.

Teachers are frequent shoppers at Oriental Trading where we found affordable sets of foam Gingerbread Houses that can be purchased in sets of 12 or sets of 48. 

Cyber Monday is a great time to purchase!

Each set is COMPLETE self contained in individually wrapped kits with everything needed to create the gingerbread house.

Directions are included with every kit!  Yippee! 

We have the very independent child who will attempt anything crafty whether you want her to or not!  That eerie silence making you wonder what is happening in your own home sent us to search.  We found a VERY proud, celebratory 8 year old child presenting her completed gingerbread house!

Gone were our plans to snap images of her working though the process of building the gingerbread house!  She had followed the directions finishing the project in less than 30 minutes on her own!  REDO!

Watch our gingerbread house come to life in less than 60 seconds.

Incorporating the gingerbread tradition into your classroom could include a variety of gingerbread books:

The Gingerbread Man

The Gingerbread Girl

Gingerbread Baby (Jan Brett of course)

The Gingerbread Man Loose at Christmas

The Gingerbread Pirates

Each year the culminating activity of gingerbread for our kindies was a CHASE of The Gingerbread Man through the school.  Clues were found in the library, the Principal’s office, and many classrooms before locating a GIANT real gingerbread man in the oven of the school cafeteria.

How do you incorporate gingerbread into your classroom?