24 Dec How to Make a Super-Easy “Gingerbread” House

I’ve always made some sort of elaborate Gingerbread House for the Holidays, but as it often does, practicality takes precedence over aesthetics when you have young children.  So this year, I showed the kids how to make a super-easy “gingerbread” house, and they had a ball.

Swap out the Gingerbread for Graham Crackers

Instead of Gingerbread, we used the much simpler Graham Crackers.  My Mom (who raised 15 kids) always said kids don’t really like the taste of real Gingerbread anyways.  But I can tell you, they sure do like Graham Crackers!  This little house is made out of 4 of the slabs from the box.  I broke 2 of the slabs apart to make the roof and side walls.  The other 2 slabs I cut to form a peak for the front and back of the house.

Assemble the Houses in Seconds

For simplicity’s sake I assembled the houses myself. I have found the most effective way to assemble a Gingerbread House is to sprinkle a small amount of white sugar in a saucepan. Keep the temperature a low as possible to avoid burning the sugar.  Once it has liquefied, quickly dip the sides of the Graham Crackers in and assemble immediately.  The hardening of the sugar is almost instantaneous, so you must be prepared to work very quickly.

Be super-careful because that sugar will burn you!

Let the Children Decorate to their Hearts’ Content

The kids seemed to know what to do without too much instruction.  I just set out some candy and some Peppermint Icing.  I think I tend to give too much instruction in an effort to control things, so it was good for me to just let these two have a little creative license.  I’m going to be honest, I think there may have been more of a focus on getting more candies on the house, knowing that later they would be able to eat it…  but how could I think such a dreadful thing about these ANGELS?!?!

Either way, this kept Clark and Luci occupied and happy for over an hour, which, as I’m sure you know is like angels singing when I’m trying to get something done.

Luci was pretty happy to use a “knife.”  I figured we would add a couple new skills in the mix to increase the educational value.  She did wonderful and was very careful, spreading her “snow.”

The resulting “Gingerbread” Houses were a sight to behold.  The witch from Hansel and Gretel has nothing on these houses!  I think this will definitively be a yearly activity for Christmastime!

Merry Christmas, Friend, from our family to yours!