Family Fun's Gingerbread House for Toddlers

Name: Family Fun's Gingerbread House for Toddlers
Prep time: 20 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 1 graham cracker gingerbread house
Ingredients: 1/4 cup cream cheese, softened; 1 1/2 teaspoons confectioners' sugar; 1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract; 3 whole graham crackers, carefully broken into 6 halves (or chocolate graham crackers); edible decorations such as dry cereals pretzel (Fruit Loops, Apple Jacks Frosted Flakes,etc., sticks)

Submitted by COOKGIRl

"An easier gingerbread house for toddlers to make! You'll need a 'Ziploc''-type plastic bag and a pair of scissors for this recipe."

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photo by Leahcooks

Ready In:: 20mins
Ingredients:: 5
Yields:: 1 graham cracker gingerbread house

ingredients

¹⁄₄ cup cream cheese, softened
1 ¹⁄₂ teaspoons confectioners' sugar
¹⁄₈ teaspoon vanilla extract
3 whole graham crackers, carefully broken into 6 halves (or chocolate graham crackers)
edible decorations such as dry cereals pretzel (Fruit Loops, Apple Jacks Frosted Flakes,etc., sticks)

directions

Use a wooden spoon to blend the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla extract in a bowl until the mixture is creamy. Spoon the frosting into a ziplock bag, then use scissors to snip off a tiny corner of the plastic.
To assemble the cottage, first pipe a line of frosting along one edge of a graham cracker square and stick it to a plate to make a wall. Add three more walls, piping lines of frosting on three sides of each square to attach it to the plate and the cracker next to it. Use two more squares to form a peaked roof, attaching them to the cottage and each other with frosting.
Now squeeze lines of frosting all over the walls and roof -- let an older tot do this herself -- and show your child how to gently press on the decorations. When she's done decorating, she can devour her treat.
Variations from the familyfun.com website: Advanced Architecture Toddlers (AAT) will be free-form with their decorating techniques, but older siblings may want to try the following tips and techniques:
Arrange rows of square cereal on the roof for shingles. Or trim the roof with golden-raisin and red-cranberry holiday lights.
Frame windows and doors with pretzel sticks and add a pretzel-rod chimney. You can also use pretzels for log cabin-style siding.
Lay a cobblestone walkway with pumpkin or sunflower seeds (again, depending on the ages of your children).

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Reviews

This was fun! And so much easier than baking gingerbread! My 3 and 4 year olds loved it. You just have to tell them to be very "gentle" when applying the icing and the candy because the house may collapse...(ours did a couple times and I had to put it back together). Use a lot of icing to put the crackers together and you will probably not have the same problem. We started with little amounts of icing and then found that liberal amounts work better! Have fun :-)

Leahcooks
I was looking for something different than the normal "glue" for gingerbread houses...and I came across this recipe. I did substitute Splenda for sugar and added a little more vanilla...per my taste. My kids loved making these and it was so easy. Took pictures but I will have to join to upload...will do so soon! DH even got into the fun...LOL! His first gingerbread house actually. This is a keeper! Thanks so much!!

Heartspell