Gingerbread houses fascinate youngsters, whether the cookie type with frosting and candy decorations or nonedible, made from other materials. Yesterday, when I substute taught in second grade, we made gingerbread houses from brown paper bags.
Gingerbread house image: sxc.hu
What fun the youngsters had!
They colored decorative motifs the teacher had copied for them. Then I stuffed brown paper bags with crumpled newspaper, folded down the top (after cutting off a strip so it wouldn’t be so bulky), and stapling it shut. The youngsters glued on their decorations (doors, windows, snowflakes, border strips, etc.). Some cut the doors so they would open and decorated inside, too, after pushing some of the crumpled paper aside. Others added decorations to the bags with colored markers.
For making cookie type gingerbread houses, you can purchase kits, as my daughter often has for her children. What fun they had putting these together and decorating them, creating Christmas memories in the process.
To make gingerbread houses “from scratch,” you may want to see if you can find a copy of Gingerbread Houses for Kids by Jennifer Ericsson , a wonderful how-to book for making these creations, with easy instructions for youngsters.
What are your gingerbread house memories?
Post from: Blisstree