Christmas Projects

We continued our traditions of gingerbread houses and homemade ornaments. This year we found a set of 5 gingerbread houses, which worked perfectly for our family.

We assembled the houses and let the kids each pick one to decorate.

I did have to help with the icing. They didn't quite understand how to control it and not let it squirt out the back of the bag. Ignore what I'm wearing, I'm aware it's hideous. 

While normal kids would eat some of the candy, my kids don't like candy so they were more than happy to use it to decorate the houses.

The front two houses are the ones the kids decorated. The adults clearly got in on the fun as well. 

Another year of making ornaments. This year they both chose a gingerbread cookie cutter. This is a simple project. The kids tear construction paper into small pieces, which is great for fine motor development. Then you put it in a blender or food processor with hot water until it is soupy. I had prepared a plate with a clean towel and a stack of paper towels to place the cookie cutter on. The kids simply take the soupy mixture and push it into the molds.

Once the mold is full, I help them push it in a little more firmly. I then gently push the ornament out and bake them at 200 degrees until they are fully dry. Then I write on their name and the year. They love these and I like it because they can do almost the entire thing by themselves.