Any type of holiday candy house is fun to make and display. Decorating “no-gingerbread gingerbread houses” can be the main event of an inexpensive and fun holiday party for children.
Adults, seniors, tweens or teens may also enjoy crafting these yummy party treats. These are enjoyable for the whole family.
Yummy Graham Cracker Christmas Houses
In lieu of gingerbread, graham crackers may be used for fast and easy walls and roof structures. Thick icing is needed for “gluing” walls together, as the crackers are thin and will not stand up easily on their own. These houses can be small and square or larger with add-on rooms.
For younger children, double-walled house shapes could be built in advance and left to dry before little ones decorate them. The double walls will help make the houses less fragile. Making a few extras is helpful as some may get crunched or dropped.
Fun Sugar Cube “Gingerbread” Houses
Sugar cube houses are great fun. Sugar cubes are used as sweet bricks for making block and mortar structures. The pretty white sparkle of the sugar cubes already suggests ice and snow and their chunky shapes are simple to stack and “glue” with icing.
Have a Pretzel Log Cabin Party
What fun to shake things up and make a log cabin style non-gingerbread house. Stores often carry thick log-shaped stick pretzels. Like Lincoln Log toys, these can be stacked alternately and held together using frosting like log cabin chinking to fill the crevices. When the houses are complete, they may be decorated with frosting and candy much like the others.
Tips for any Graham Cracker, Sugar Cube, or Pretzel Candy House Party
While it is not likely to make much of an impact on party guests, little ones will need reminding not to lick fingers or plastic utensils and then “re-dip.” Very little children may do better with their own little piles of candy on their own plate.
Each child needs a stiff, portable platform (foil-covered plain cardboard, for instance) on which to build. This makes a nice base for frosting and candy yard details and walkways. A base also makes it easier to carry creations home. Having boxes available will protect the houses further.
Supplies for Building Gingerbread Houses
Besides the main house materials, edible decorations are necessary:
- Homemade frosting in white and various colors (store-bought dries too slow and is too creamy)
- Slightly thinner white frosting is pretty for dripping on roofs to make snow and icicles
- Melted white chocolate or vanilla bark
- Colored sugar (green is good for grass)
- M&Ms and mini M&Ms
- Mini candy canes
- Shredded coconut (for snow)
- Frosted MiniWheats cereal (for thatched roofs)
- Chocolate bars (to break into windows and stepping stones)
- Gummy candies (rings make wreaths, bears can be in the yard)
- Small jellybeans (for stones or?)
Party hosts should feel free to be creative with item choices.
To keep costs down, each guest can bring some decorative candies. Most of these items can be found in the baking/cake-decorating isle of a grocery store.
Planning and Giving a Party Should be Fun
To keep things easy, disposable plastic table-covers, bowls, plates, and utensils can be used for fast party clean-up.
For other easy party ideas articles on Suite 101, see Super Easy Fruit Desserts for Holiday Parties, Fast & Easy 3 Ingredient Cookies and Best Christmas Cookie Recipe Sites.
Last but not least, some holiday music goes a long way towards making things festive and light. Add a few beverages, rags for spills, some happy kids, and a “gingerbread house” party is born.
Janienne Jennrich - Janienne Jennrich, Topic Editor for Kids & Teen Parties and for Hair, is an award-winning freelance writer & webmaster.
