Making a Graham Cracker house is a fun way to celebrate the holidays with the kids. Try this toddler Christmas activity as a fun “snacktivity” with the littles—and prepare to have some messy fun!
Graham Cracker Houses
We’ve been making these graham cracker houses ever since my oldest kiddo was a toddler and it’s become a yearly tradition that we look forward to each December. In normal years, we typically invite 2-4 friends over and make it a playdate!
I love using decorations like pretzels, dried fruit, sliced nuts, and more so the kids can have their snack as they make their house.
An Easy Gingerbread House Idea
Using graham crackers as the base of your house is a super easy way to construct the houses since there’s no baking required. Each house takes about 5 minutes to make and you can make a few ahead of time so they’re ready to go when you’re ready to do the holiday activity with the kids.
Ingredients You Need
To make these houses you’ll need:
- Graham crackers
- Glue gun and glue sticks
- Serrated knife
TIP: Buy more graham crackers than you think you will need since some will likely be broken! In my experience, Honeymaid may be a little less likely to be broken in the packages than store brands though that will for sure vary.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Here’s a look at how to construct your house. Scroll down to the bottom of this post for the full information.
- Heat up the glue gun and stick. Make a box starting with one long graham cracker as your base. Glue on sides and a top.
- Add two long graham crackers to make a pointed roof.
- Cut 2 square graham crackers (either break a full size one in half or pick up a box of the square graham crackers) into triangles with a serrated knife.
- Glue triangles to the ends to finish.
TIP: You can make the houses the day before you plan to decorate the houses if desired.
Can I make these on a milk carton?
We’ve done that in the past, but I’ve found that not all milk cartons are the same size and the only ones we can find at our local store are wider than the width of a graham cracker—so it actually doesn’t make it any easier.
We like to make slightly bigger houses with glue and graham crackers.
How many graham cracker boxes do I need for a gingerbread house?
I would plan to have two regular size packages of graham crackers per little house. Each box usually has three packages so you’ll need to see how many kids you’re making them with.
How do you make a graham cracker gingerbread house bigger?
You can turn the crackers vertically to make a taller house or add a second layer. There are so many options!
Toppings for Easy Gingerbread Houses
We like to use these toppings for our houses—and the kids usually nibble as they go!:
- Pretzel sticks
- Chex cereal (they make great windows)
- Mini marshmallows
- Shredded coconut (perfect for snow)
- Dried cranberries
- Yogurt covered raisins
- Slivered almonds (they make great shingles!)
- Pumpkin seeds
- Banana chips
TIP: You can also add an ice cream sugar cone to each house as a tree and decorate that too.
Royal Icing for Graham Cracker Houses
You will need to make some easy icing so the kids have a “glue” to hold their toppings to the house. I use powdered sugar and milk—so easy! Simply mix them together until you have a stiff, but still stirable icing.
If you want to use icing to hold the house together, you can do that, though know it takes a few minutes (like 5-10) for it to set, so you’ll have to sit and hold the house in place while you wait. (This is why I use glue!)
TIP: I like to put the icing for the toppings into a zip top storage bag so the kids can pipe the icing on. Cut off a small part of the corner, like 1/4-inch, right when the kids are ready to decorate. The icing will stay fresh in a sealed storage bag if you want to make it the day before.
Best Tips for Success
- Plan to make the houses yourself or with the help of an older child.
- You can make the houses up to a few days ahead of time if desired.
- Make each house on top of a paper plate so it’s easy to transport when completed.
- Put out an assortment of toppings so the kids can pick and choose what they want on their house.
- If doing this as a playdate, request that each child bring two toppings to contribute.
- Expect the table you do this project on to get very sticky.
- Expect the floor under the table to be covered with crumbs.
- The houses will last at room temperature for a few weeks. The kids can eat their toppings if they want to, but this is more an idea to be used as a decoration.
- You may also like Easy Salt Dough, Best Tips for Baking With Kids, Strawberry Santa Hats, and Easy Sugar Cookies.
I’d love to hear your feedback if you try this out with your kids, so please comment below to share!
This post was first published November 2018.
Easy Graham Cracker Houses
Ingredients
Houses
- 7 full-size sheets of graham crackers (plan to have extras in case some are broken)
- 2 lb bag powdered sugar
- 2/3-3/4 cup milk
Assorted Toppings
- 2 cups Pretzel sticks, Chex cereal (they make great windows), mini marshmallows, shredded coconut (perfect for snow), dried cranberries, yogurt covered raisins, slivered almonds (they make great shingles), pumpkin seeds, banana chips, sugar cones
Instructions
To make the house:
- Heat up a glue gun and stick. Make a box starting with one long graham cracker as your base. Glue on sides and a top. (You can also use royal icing, but I find this part to be faster to do in advance so the kids just do the decorating.)
- Add two long graham crackers to make a pointed roof.
- Cut 2 square graham crackers (either break a full size one in half or pick up a box of the square graham crackers) into triangles with a serrated knife.
- Glue triangles to the ends to finish.
To make the Royal Icing:
- Stir together the powdered sugar and milk, starting with the lower amount, in a very large bowl. Add milk, one tablespoon at a time, as needed to make a very stiff, but uniform icing. (You want it to be stiff so it doesn't drip out of the bags too quickly. You should be able to stir it together, but it should require a little bit of muscle.)
- Divide the icing into 2-3 quart size storage bags. Remove air and seal.
To decorate:
- When ready to decorate the houses, snip off one bottom corner from each bag to make a very small opening.
- Decorate with assorted toppings.
Notes
- Plan to make the houses yourself or with the help of an older child.
- You can make the houses up to a few days ahead of time if desired.
- Make additional icing and use it to hold the houses together if you prefer. Make sure it's stiff so it's as secure as possible. You may have to hold pieces for a minute or two to allow them to dry.
- Make each house on top of a paper plate so it's easy to transport when completed.
- Put out an assortment of toppings so the kids can pick and choose what they want on their house.
- If doing this as a playdate, request that each child bring two toppings to contribute.
- Expect the table you do this project on to get very sticky.
- Expect the floor under the table to be covered with crumbs.
- The houses will last at room temperature for a few weeks. The kids can eat their toppings if they want to, but this is more an idea to be used as a decoration.
Nutrition
Will frosting in tubs at the store be as good as homage icing?
You can use that though it may take a little time to set so you often have to hold the pieces together until it dries.
These are so fun to make! My students save their milk cartons and we adhere Graham crackers to the cartons with canned frosting to make houses. They then use the frosting to adhere decorations. The houses are sent home with them.
Am I understanding that you use “glue” to hold the crackers together? How can they eat the house later if there is glue? Would icing not hold pieces together? Thanks for any clarification.
Yes, we’ve always used glue because no one wants to eat stale graham crackers (ha!) and the toppings are held on with the icing. You can use the icing to hold the house together if you prefer, it’s just not as quick to make.
Where do you find natural mini-marshmallows? We buy natural (large) ones from a local candy store but haven’t seen the mini ones!
I believe that I’ve gotten them at Whole Foods. There is also this option on amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Dandies-Vegan-Marshmallows-Vanilla-Minis/dp/B00G9C7A2Y/
I love love love this idea! I often avoid gingerbread houses because of the amount of candy involved. I wish I would have thought of this before. All the fun without all the excess sugar.