Decorating Gingerbread Houses

I decided to tackle decorating gingerbread houses once again this year. As I laboriously tried to cut triangles from graham crackers (not as easy as one may think), I vaguely remember telling myself last year not to do this again. How come I only remember how much joy my students had when decorating them last year? I do not remember how much time - and hot glue it took beforehand. The librarian compared it to childbirth - "you forget the pain that led to the joy". Haha! After making it through "labor", the joy of seeing my kids decorate their houses was totally worth the 6am trip to Wal-Mart for more frosting and hot glue sticks. They frosted, sprinkled, and decorated to their heart's content. Some of them opted our of afternoon free choice time to keep loading the candy on their houses.

Before...

(Words of Wisdom: If you ever try this with your class, give each person their own bag of frosting, plat of candy, and cupcake liner with sprinkles. We all know that our kids can share, but we are choosing not to invite conflict to this party. )

After...

              Wow! Look at all that sugary goodness!

I always tell my class that the candy is old and bad for them if they eat it, because if I don't - they spend more time eating than decorating! I give each of them a little handful of "fresh" candy to eat before they start decorating so they aren't tempted.


This is a model from last year when I added "trees" for them to decorate.

Looks like poor frosty has a head wound!

How do you decorate gingerbread houses with your classroom? I'd love to hear your tips and tricks!