Gingerbread House Decorating Hacks with kids

One of our most beloved family Christmas traditions is decorating gingerbread houses with the kids. On a cold December afternoon, we gather in the kitchen, turn on Christmas music, and have a family gingerbread house decorating party. If your family also enjoys this tradition, you know it’s fun, but also messy! It’s hard enough to keep your house clean at Christmas without extra icing and sprinkles everywhere! Here are our family gingerbread house decorating hacks to ensure the process is smooth and fun for all!

In this post, I’m sharing some gingerbread house decorating hacks with kids that make the decorating fun and the clean-up easier!

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Start with the Clean-Up

Decorating gingerbread houses with kids can get messy. The Icing (especially colored icing), candy, and gingerbread crumbs can quickly get everywhere! When the kids were toddlers I often asked myself if it was worth the mess! Ensure an easier clean-up with these tips.

1. Start with a disposable tablecloth

While shopping for gingerbread house kits or candy, purchase an inexpensive, disposable tablecloth (butcher paper also works perfectly!) Cover the table or counter where you will decorate the houses. Kids can wipe hands or pour off excess sprinkles onto the tablecloth and you can just roll it up when they are done!

2. Make a “Yard” for the gingerbread houses

For each gingerbread house we decorate, I wrap a piece of foil or parchment paper around a piece of cardboard to make a decorating platform (As seen in the photo above). In December, there are usually some Amazon boxes around the house and this is a great way to reuse them. The parchment paper covered box becomes the perfect “yard” to can catch falling sprinkles or dripping icing.

Most importantly, building and decorating on a surface will make it easy to transport to wherever you will display the gingerbread houses. Both the foil and parchment paper have a wintery look that can easily be made to look like snow!

The case for a kits

I remember saving my milk carton from school and then using icing to “glue” graham crackers to the side of the carton to construct my gingerbread house as a child. This was and is a fun way for kids to be part of every step of the process! You can then purchase candies, snacks, or cereals to decorate your gingerbread house!

A gingerbread house barn and silo from a gingerbread house kit.

Now, there are many readily available gingerbread house kits that make gathering supplies and decorating a breeze! Target, Walmart, Amazon, and many grocery stores carry kits for under $10. These usually include the gingerbread pieces to assemble the house, decorative candy, and small packets of icing.

I have found that the cost of the kit vs. the cost of purchasing graham crackers or supplies to bake gingerbread, plus icing and decorative candies is very close. Both are great options!

Customize Your Kit

While gingerbread house kits often come with a set of candy decorations, there are many fun ways to personalize them. Add your own touch to your house by adding your own unique decorations.

Some of our Favorites include:

The Pretzel Log Cabin (use a thin layer of icing to attach pretzel sticks to the sides of the house)
The Frosted Mini Wheat Shake Roof
The Ice Cream Cone Christmas Tree (An upside-down sugar cone with green frosting makes the perfect front yard tree!)
Cinnamon Gum Bricks
Marshmallow Snowmen (a wooden skewer)

Start with a Sturdy Foundation

One of the most common gingerbread house decorating problems is a structure that collapses under the weight of the icing and candy decorations. This can be incredibly frustrating (or even melt-down inducing), especially when you’ve spent time creating a beautiful house! To avoid this issue, it’s important to start with a sturdy foundation.

There are many recipes for gingerbread house icing available. If you are going this route, I recommend a recipe with egg whites as they tend to be stronger.

Hot glue the base of a gingerbread house is a favorite gingerbread house decorating hack!

The last few years, I’ve elected to hot glue the gingerbread pieces together for a quick and sturdy structure. You need to remind everyone that it is not edible, but it does create a solid base. After the house if glued together, the kids can pile on icing and decorations. This is always their favorite part!

Muffin Tin Candy Containment

Use a Muffin tin to organize candies and decorating supplies when decorating gingerbread houses.

Use a muffin tin to set out different types of candies or small packets of icing. For example, you can have one compartment for gumdrops, another for candy canes, another for chocolate chips, and so on. This will keep small candies from rolling onto the floor and all the decorating supplies in a central location.