Updated on February 13, 2024
Graham Cracker Gingerbread Houses. Easily create gingerbread houses for your children to decorate this holiday season. Each house uses 6 graham crackers.
One of the activities we do each year for our activity advent calendar is to make gingerbread houses. Some years, I will make traditional gingerbread houses from scratch. Or we will sometimes buy the kits from the store. But those can be expensive!
Most years, we go the simple route and make gingerbread houses from graham crackers. They are easy and so much fun for the kids!
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How to Make Graham Cracker Gingerbread Houses
Below, I will show you step-by-step instructions for constructing little graham cracker houses.
Using icing looks more like a traditional gingerbread house. However, a hot glue gun is the quickest way to assemble the house. I do not recommend this method if you have younger kids that may eat the house.
Supplies:
- Graham Crackers
- Icing (can be store-bought or homemade royal icing)
- Cream of Tartar
- Lots of Candy
Prepare Your Icing
Start by preparing your icing.
Store Bought Icing
If you are using store-bought frosting, mix approximately 1/4 teaspoon of cream of tartar per cup of icing. This will help your icing to harden.
Royal Icing
My favorite recipe is from Wilton for simple royal icing: https://www.wilton.com/recipe/Royal-Icing. You will need powdered sugar, warm water, and meringue powder.
Another recipe for royal frosting from Martha Stewart uses eggs instead of meringue powder: https://www.marthastewart.com/1143853/royal-icing-egg-whites. You will need eggs and confectioners’ sugar.
Any of the white icing recipes above will work well for assembling the houses. Choose whichever method is easiest, or you have the ingredients for it.
Place some of your icing in a pastry bag with a large round tip. Or you can use a gallon-size Ziploc bag and cut a hole in the corner.
Note: You can refrigerate any extra icing, but allow the icing to come to room temperature before using.
Cut the Graham Crackers For Roof Supports
For each house, you will need six graham crackers.
- Two triangle pieces for the front and back wall of the house
- Two whole crackers for the side pieces
- Two full graham cracker pieces for the roof
I like to use a serrated knife for this. The pieces don’t break as easily as when using a regular knife.
Cut off a small, straight section across the top of the graham cracker on a cutting board. Then, cut two corners off the top to create a triangle shape. Repeat for the second graham cracker.
Assemble the Graham Cracker House
Add a row of icing to each straight side of your cut triangle pieces. You will attach the two whole graham crackers to this icing. Repeat this for the other end of the house.
Then, add icing to the top of the triangle edges and attach your two roof pieces.
Lastly, add icing along the top where the two roof pieces meet.
Be generous with your icing. This is the “glue” that holds the houses together.
Helpful Hints: It helps to make the houses in advance so they have time to harden and set. Otherwise, your house pieces will slide around while the kids try decorating them.
Decorate the Gingerbread House
Now comes the fun part!
Prepare your decorating station. I like to use a large divided tray to make the candy easily accessible. You can also separate the candy into small bowls or muffin tins.
Favorite Gingerbread House Decorations
- Gum Drops
- Twizzlers
- Skittles
- Mike and Ike’s
- M&Ms
- Sno Caps
- Rainbow Sour Belts
- Mini Candy Canes
- Chocolate Chips
- Gummy Bears
- Mini Marshmallows
Dollar Tree and Walmart have a good selection of candy you can get very inexpensively. However, any grocery store will have all the necessary supplies to make and decorate the houses. And remember, you can never have too much candy!
Place an assembled house on a sturdy paper plate. Give each child a small bowl of icing with a little spoon. Or add icing to a small sandwich-size Ziploc bag with a hole cut in the corner.
RELATED: More Kid Craft Ideas
Have the kids decorate their graham cracker gingerbread houses. The icing will harden as it dries. If you are using a small cup of frosting, have your child dip the candy piece into the frosting and then place it on the house.
Any leftover candy can be stored in ziploc bags or glass storage containers.
I love to see how each of the houses turns out so differently for all of us and from year to year. Decorating gingerbread houses is one of our favorite family traditions.
Creative Idea: Plan a decorating party with your whole family as a new holiday tradition. It is a fun activity to create lasting memories with everyone!
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Kasey says
How long does it take for the frosting to harden? I would love to make these with my afterschool program kids but we only have 1.5 hours together! Thank you for the wonderful idea!
Laura Silva says
Kasey,
I don’t have an exact time as it really depends on what type of icing you use, and how thick you apply it. But to be safe I would give the houses an hour to dry. In your case, I would suggest pre-making the houses, and then have the kids decorate them during your program. Hope that helps!
Laura
Sonia says
How much icing is needed per house?
Laura Silva says
I have never actually measured before. We usually make four houses, plus decorate them, and only use about 1/2 – 3/4 of a can of frosting for all of them.
Rosa says
I’m thinking about doing this for my classroom party. Can the kids eat the store-bought frosting mixed with cream of tartar?
Laura Silva says
Yes! Cream of tartar is an ingredient used in lots of recipes and is completely edible.
Laura
Havok says
These turned out so cute! And so easy to have the kids do – no worrying about making gingerbread, they could even shape their own graham cracker pieces!