Love me Some Gingerbread Houses!!!

When I taught I would always make Gingerbread Houses with my students. The kind you make out of milk cartons and graham crackers. I even have a unit on Teaching Heart all about Gingerbread… click here.

Then I had my own kiddos and every year we have our own tradition of making Gingerbread houses. I buy a Wilton kit for both my kids and one for myself (this way I let the kids enjoy the process instead of trying to fix theirs, I tick to my own) at the sales after Christmas. I buy extra candy and icing and we set to work. This year I added a tradition of reading a story before we get sticky with candy, when Janice Mineer sent me her story Gingerbread from the Heart. Of course I read through once by myself and soaked in the beautiful illustrations and the wonderful lesson taught in the story. The teacher in me knew this would be a perfect read for all of the classrooms which make delicious gingerbread houses. What a wonderful way to introduce your class to the process of making a Gingerbread House. In the story the children make delicious, candy covered houses for their grandmother. Each of the three children makes a totally diffe

rent creations while wondering if Grandma will like their creation the best. While we were reading the story my seven year old was getting ideas for his creation of his Gingerbread house. The story really got him thinking about how he would create his masterpiece and whom he could share it with. The best part of the book is that it shows the delight one can feel from doing something nice for someone else.