Hosting a kids holiday party just got much easier! Here are the simple steps to host a gingerbread house decorating party which combines entertainment, snacks and holiday fun for kids of all ages. Use this gingerbread house party idea at home, church or in the classroom like we did!
Host a Kids Gingerbread House Building Party
One of my favorite holiday traditions is making a gingerbread house. But it’s always more fun with friends, so today we are sharing how to host a gingerbread house decorating party for kids.
A gingerbread house decorating party is a fun activity for kids to do with their friends during the holidays. It requires little prep and the kids have a blast.
Related: Whimsical Gingerbread House Coloring Pages!
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1. Choose a Gingerbread House Kit
Our gingerbread house decorating party for kids was super simple to put together. We used the Wilton Build-It-Yourself Gingerbread Mini Village Decorating Kit. Each kit contains four different mini gingerbread houses with all the supplies you need to make a gingerbread masterpiece.
We set up all the supplies on a large table in the front of the room, then made a workspace for each kiddo on their decorating tables.
2. Kids Can Sit at a Holiday Decorated Table Together
We had about 16 kids at our gingerbread house decorating party, ranging in ages from 3 to 11, so we only needed four of the kits to get our party started.
Each kit comes with cookie pieces and everything you need to build, decorate, and display a three-dimensional holiday village.
3. Supplies Used by the Group Placed on Table to the Side
We had extra gingerbread house glue, decorative icing in tubes, decorations and sprinkles…you can never have too many sprinkles!
Additional Items We Used for Gingerbread House Decoration
- Mini Candy Cane Edible Cupcake Toppers
- Mini Snowman Icing Decorations
- Mini Snowflake Icing Decorations
- Holiday Sprinkles Mix
- Green and Red Icing Set
- White Ready to Use Icing Tube
4. Each Child Had a Gingerbread Building Workspace at the Table
The workspace included a paint palette for sprinkles, cake boards, and a plastic knife.
5. Let the Children Build Gingerbread Houses!
There were different pieces perfect for kids of all ages — we had three year olds who loved spreading the icing and adding candy embellishments like these rooftop gum drops!
We also had 10 year olds who enjoyed constructing the actual structures and decorating with more detail.
There really was something to do for every kid!
Gingerbread House Making Kits that Keep Kids Attention
And the mini village houses were the perfect size for kids. Too often, we’ve started decorating a gingerbread house and my son loses interest, so I end up having to finish it.
Every kid worked hard on their gingerbread house and proudly displayed their masterpiece at the end!
Our Finished Gingerbread Houses
I loved to see the different styles the kids used when making their gingerbread houses.
Some followed examples on the box and others used the supplies to make their own fun scene.
Tips to Make Your Gingerbread House Party for Kids a Success:
Here are a few things that we learned while hosting this first gingerbread house decorating party for kids of all ages. Next time we will make a slight alteration, but overall it was an incredible success and everyone had a good time at the holiday party.
- Prep your party area by laying down disposable tablecloths. When the party’s over, simply wrap up the tablecloths and throw away the empty or leftover supplies.
- Give each child a workspace where they can keep their supplies. We used a red piece of paper to separate the different spaces, with all the supplies ready at hand.
- We used small paint palettes to store sprinkles and other decorations for each kid. This kept the portions reasonable but also ensured that we weren’t spreading germs amongst our guests.
- Invite children to help each other construct their houses — They can hold pieces for their friends while building, or help add embellishments to the finished structure.
- Provide aprons or ask party guests to come in clothes they don’t mind getting messy. Our kids had frosting and sprinkles everywhere — but that is part of the fun, right?!
- And don’t forget to take a picture of the finished projects before everyone goes home!
The Perfect Holiday Party for Kids
Our kids had an amazing time — you don’t need to wait for a special occasion to host a cookie decorating party for kids! It makes a fun playdate or after school activity any time of year!
More Gingerbread Fun from Kids Activities Blog
- If you want to make your own gingerbread house glue, we have the best recipe!
- These gingerbread man crafts are fun to make during the holiday season.
- Grab these gingerbread man printables for kids – worksheets, coloring pages and build your own gingerbread man paper doll.
- Don’t miss our favorite gingerbread recipes!
- Or if you are looking for the best Christmas treats or Christmas cookies, we’ve got ya!
- And what could be better (and easier) than slow cooker hot chocolate to serve at your kids Christmas party?
Have you hosted a gingerbread house decorating party for kids? Please give us more holiday party ideas below.
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