Gingerbread Houses!

The kids had an AWESOME time and made some fantastic creations. Good thing I took pictures of them because someone (there seems to be some disagreement as to EXACTLY who that was...my money is still on William and Cade) ate most of the candy off of them later that afternoon! We had a great turn out despite two families cancelling at the last minute because of kids with the stomach bug (YUCKY! THANKS FOR NOT SHARING!!!)

Details about event:

CHRISTMAS PARTY with Gingerbread house making and parade
When: Wednesday, December 10 12:30 PM to 3 PMWhere: Jr. OUAM Hall, St Bernard, OH. Directions sent with RSVP

Ages: homeschoolers of all ages, limited to 40 participants

Cost: Free, but we ask that you bring a bag of candy and one basicbuilding supply

RSVP: Laura with your child(ren)'s name/age and if they want a premade house

Hosted by: Laura , Deanne and Melodie

What participants need to bring: candy, one basic building supply (seebelow) and a nut-free snack to share.
What we are providing: Premade houses for the younger kids (when you RSVP please let us know if your child wants a premade house),cardboard bases for everyone, cardboard boxes to use as forms (if desired), graham crackers, icing, glueguns and glue sticks (feel free to bring your own if you wish). We will also have water and some other drinks for everyone.

All participants need to bring candy to share (great way to get rid of the last of the Halloween candy!). Laffy Taffy's are GREAT becausethey can be rolled out and cut into any shape. We are also asking thatwhen you RSVP that you sign up to bring one of the basic "building"supplies, for example, icecream cones, pretzles (rods or smaller ones), wafer type cookies, coconut flakes, or marshmallows.

Before attending the event, have your child pick a favorite book andbegin to decide what they want to build to represent that book. Bringthe book with you if you can. Once we are all gathered the child (orchildren) can assemble and decorate their house. Once everyone is finished we will put the houses on display and have a PARADE throughour STORYBOOK TOWN!

We will have some other activities to keep the kids busy as they finish their houses, coloring pages, card making supplies (cards will be distributed to nursing home residents if the child wishes to donate them)games to play and more! We may update what additional activities will be included prior to the event. A good time will be had by ALL!

A little background on the gingerbread house parade: Two years agoduring our annual trip downtown to see the Christmas displays, westumbled upon some WONDERFUL gingerbread houses. Each house was basedon a children's book, such as Harry Potter, Cloudy With a Chance ofMeatballs, Disney Princesses, Kate's Castle, The Three Little Pigs,and The Grinch. I thought it would be fun for each family (or child ifthey want to do their own house) to pick a book and make a gingerbreadhouse to represent it. We will then display all the houses foreveryone to see. The event will double as a holiday party/social withgames and holiday music. If you would like to see photos of the housesfrom last year, or the house we saw downtown that inspired this event,email me and I can send pictures to you.

A week before the event I sent out:

You are receiving this email because you RSVPed to the Gingerbread House making and Christmas party this Wednesday at the Jr. OUAM Hall!

1) If you would like a PREMADE house, please respond to this email telling me that you need a premade house and also tell me how many. Please respond ASAP so that work can be done on these in the next few days!

2) We are asking each family to bring with them 1 can of icing/frosting (like you would use for a cake), a building supply (pretzel rods, ice cream cones, wafers, coconut, etc) and at least 1 bag of candy. Please bring a nutfree snack to share. We ask that you not bring popcorn. Drinks and paper products will be provided. Right now, if I have the count correct, we have just over 30 children attending!

If you have any questions, let me know!