With the holidays just around the corner, many of us are celebrating by making gingerbread houses. But if the real deal just isn’t your thing—too messy or just plain hard—this paper gingerbread house craft is a great alternative.
I don’t know about you, but gingerbread houses have always seemed a little intimidating. I just can’t get the hang of standing up those cookie/cracker pieces, pasting them together with frosting, and embellishing them.
My niece had the fun idea last year to use Pop-Tarts, and that worked out way better, as you can see on the happy faces of my kiddo and niece below.
But back to the gingerbread house paper craft. If making gingerbread houses is on your December Bucket List and you want an easy option, this is for you. This project is as easy as print, trace, cut, and paste.
It’s a terrific craft for the classroom since all you need are scissors, paper, and glue. In fact, you can just print the template on white cardstock to have your students color in their pieces with crayons or markers rather than cutting them out of colored paper. That saves a little time.
Materials Needed for the Gingerbread House Craft:
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- Brown, white, and colorful craft paper or cardstock
- Scissors
- Pencil
- Glue (we recommend these glue sticks)
- Printer
- Gingerbread house template
Watch the video below or scroll down for written step-by-step instructions on assembling the gingerbread house paper craft.
Step-by-Step Instructions for the Paper Gingerbread House
Step 1: Choose the shape for the house. There are two different sizes on the template—choose the one you want. Trace the outline on brown cardstock, and cut it out.
Step 2: Cut out the piece for the roof. You can choose a different color if you don’t want white.
Step 3: Glue the roof to the top of the house.
Step 4: Use the template to cut out the pieces for the gingerbread house’s door. There are two shapes two choose from, each in two sizes. Yellow is used here for the piece behind the door to look like there’s a glow from the inside of the house. Blue is used on the other house in the photos above and below.
Step 5: Glue the yellow piece behind the white door frame.
Step 6: Glue the door to the house in the middle and slightly up from the bottom.
Step 7: Prepare the pieces for the chimney, gluing the white piece to the top of the brown cardstock chimney.
Step 8: Glue the chimney on the back on the left or right side of the roof, whichever is your preference.
Free Gingerbread House Printables
Don’t forget to grab the free gingerbread house template!
You’re done! Your paper gingerbread house craft is fully assembled and ready for display. They’ll look so cute in your windows this holiday season.
You can embellish the houses with fun little details like candy canes, hearts, lollipops, and other cute accessories. Make them yourself or use stickers.
More Easy Christmas Crafts for Kids
If you’re in need of more easy projects, check out the ideas below. From toilet paper roll crafts to handprint Christmas crafts, you’ll love making these memories with your kids.
- Snowman Toilet Paper Roll Craft
- Snowman Popsicle Stick Ornaments
- Double-Sided Elmo and Grover Ornaments
- Popsicle Stick Reindeer Ornament
- 19 Handprint Christmas Crafts
- 10 Fun Kids’ Ideas for Christmas
