This is a simple way to make a gingerbread nativity scene by creating a manger scene in a stable (or house depending on your theology of the nativity!). I know homemade gingerbread tastes fab, but the bought stuff is easier to build with and gets us straight to the fun bit which is of course decorating. And it’s fun to retell the story with. You could even use it as your nativity set, adding pieces each week as you share the story together.
So here goes:
1 Buy an IKEA gingerbread house kit (Obvs you could use other kits too – this was the one we had to hand).
2 Make the house but leave off one wall and one side of the roof. I used royal icing for this one but I’ve also used melted sugar. Yep, just heated sugar until it was hot (as the sun!) then dipped the edges of the pieces in. NOTE: THIS IS NOT FOR CHILDREN TO DO – IT REALLY DOES BURN A LOT IF YOU TOUCH IT. I touched it and it burned for 10 hours. I had to run a whole birthday party with an ice block on my hand. PLEASE be careful!
The advantage of the sugar method is that it sets like rock in about 2 seconds. If you use royal icing you may need to use it ‘glue’ the walls onto a board and then set up books to hold the walls in place as the icing sets.
3 Use the chimney pieces to make a manger. See pic below. Yes, I know, clever huh! You’re welcome.
4 Decorate and add little people. These could be from your nativity set. We use a packet of little gingerbread people, or you could make gingerbread men and use icing and sweets to turn them into the various characters you need for the story. You need quite a few so this works well as a family activity so each person only needs to create a few characters. You could chat about which characters you’re making and what they might have been doing in the months and years running up to the scene you’re creating. And what happened to them afterwards. Did it change their life? Did they just go back to what they doing before?
5 Look at it, share the story together, take photos then scoff it.
For more ideas and Activities to explore at Christmas visit my 50 Faith at home ideas for Christmas here.
