Every year my sister-in-law hosts a Gingerbread House decorating party for all of the kids in the family. She started this tradition 8 years ago and its a great way to get the children excited for the upcoming Christmas holiday. Plus, its a lot of fun!

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To keep things simple she buys Gingerbread House Kits that typically go on sale the day after Christmas (the previous year) for 50% to 75% off at various retail stores. When buying them like this you’ll want to check out the expiration date on the package. If they expire soon…don’t buy them. The majority of the ones that she purchases have 1-2 year expiration dates on them. Perfect to use the following year.

You can also pick up inexpensive kits at stores like Big Lots, Five and Below, Dollar General Store, Gabe’s, etc. for a decent price. This kits typically include “almost” or “everything” that you need…depending on the kit that you purchase. She also recommends that you go out a few days after Halloween to buy left-over candy on clearance to use to help decorate your Gingerbread Houses.

If cost isn’t an issue you can find some really elaborate Gingerbread House kits out in the retail market place. We’ve seen where you can construct an entire village. If you have a lot of free time on your hand and don’t mind being in the kitchen for a day or two…you can certainly make and bake your own Gingerbread pieces and mix up your own frosting & icing to use in the project.

Before your party you need to prepare the work surface for the kids. You’ll want to cut up some cardboard boxes. You need pieces of cardboard that are as large as a placemat. Cover the cardboard with one to two layers of aluminum foil. This will protect your table and provide a non-stick work surface for the kids. Plus, it makes transporting their final creations home much easier.

The kids eat some candy as their creating their houses. Once done…they don’t. Let’s face it…letting them sit out in the elements can get pretty icky. So, basically once they’re done they are used as holiday and Christmas decorations. Once the season is over you can toss them into the trash. You don’t want to save them for next year as they’ll attract bugs and pests.

We recommend that you plan ahead if you’re hosting a party like this and try to do as much prep work that you can ahead of time. Make sure you give the children plenty of frosting, icing, sprinkles, candy, etc. to decorate their houses. Give them a LOT of choices!!! Please remember…it’s NOT about coming up with “Pinterest worthy” pictures. Let the kids create their own designs…it’s about letting them be creative!

Throughout this post you’ll see several photographs that I took from the family Gingerbread House making party that my sister-in-law hosts every year. It’s a great way for families to spend some time together during the busy holiday season and the kids have a lot of fun making their houses.

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