Crafting with the kids-No Bake Gingerbread Houses

It still 'Tis the Season of gingerbread, sweets and sticky fingers, so I thought I would share with you a cute craft project my kids did the last week of school. In our elementary school, both the Kindergarten and 4th grade undertake special gingerbread projects the week before Christmas.  With a kid in both Kindergarten and 4th this year, we were up to our ears in gingerbread houses.  But, with no baking involved, it was lots of fun.  So here are two fun options for creating a "no bake" gingerbread house.

The Kindergarten kids covered a small pint container(oj or half and half size) with frosting and then pushed graham crackers onto the sides to create the "gingerbread".  Then it was anything goes as they decorated with the candy of their choice.  The parents were invited in to help out and it was a nice chance to spend some time in the classroom.

The 4th grade project was more of an undertaking and was part of their math unit on perimeter and measurement.  Each kid was to plan out on graph paper the dimensions of their house and then build a cardboard model based on those measurements.  They had to draw diagrams of how they planned to decorate each side, create a key for the candy plan and then a shopping list (for mom) of candy needed.  They covered the entire house with frosting (2 cans in our case!) and then followed their decorating diagram to stick on the candy.  The last day of school, parents were invited to "walk down gingerbread lane" and view all the houses lined up on tables in the hallway.