I made gingerbread houses with the kids from scratch a couple years ago, and I was considering doing it again this year. But then I found a kit at Costco for $10, and the idea of getting all the gingerbread, candy, and frosting in one go was too tempting. I was a little worried that the kit would dampen their creativity, but I needn’t have worried!
Johnny took a wall out of his house (on the far left) so that his toys could enter and exit the house easily. Then Emma wanted a door on the house she and Lily were decorating together. Trying to cut the super-dry gingerbread resulted in a crack, which then permanently destroyed the structure of their house.
So we took the roof off of the girls’ house, and used it to create Emma’s tent-style house. Emma and Johnny were thrilled to have three houses fully-accessible to their toys and, so did Lily!
MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.
What does your gingerbread house recipe look like?
This is so cute – your children are born engineers. I totally understand their desire to make the houses accessible for toys.
From scratch?! I think you are amazing to make them period, let alone from scratch:-). This is one Christmas craft you will not see us make b/c I just don’t have the patience for it:-). The kids ask each year though. Toy accessible? I love that! Lily is absolutely precious clapping her sweet little hands in that last picture!
Yea! What a fun activity, and I love their practical focus, making the houses toy-accessible!
Merry Christmas!!!
Cute! We use a kit too!
Love that last picture of Lily.
My kids would probably want fully accessible houses too.
I almost bought one of those kits. I’m hoping to find one on clearance the 26th. It’ll be a post Christmas treat:) Their houses are cute.