Recipe(tried): Gingerbread House Frosting and Tips

Kim - You brave lady, I hope it all works out okay. Make sure you have a camera on hand!

The thing about the frosting is that you need something that dries quickly. Little girls have limited patience for holding the sides together while the "glue" dries. I had a bday party for m y 10-yr-old last November, where a bunch of young ladies made gingerbread houses. We had a fabulous (messy) time, but their skill levels were amazingly different. One girl couldn't cope at all with holding the sides together long enough to let them dry.

I used the dried egg white powder, because I knew from experiments that kids will lick it straight off their fingers, and I didn't dare use raw eggs. I whipped up several batches one day ahead of time, put it in (STURDY!) sandwich-size zip-lock bags, and put them in the fridge overnight. When we were set to go, I handed each kid a bag with a tiny hole snipped in the corner. When the bag was empty, she got a new one. You can try experimenting with the frosting, but the egg white powder works well - dries quickly on the house, but the ziplocks keep it soft until they squeeze it out.

You might also consider having a couple of (washed, obviously) milk cartons (single-serving size) to act as supports for the one or two kids who have trouble forming the houses.

We used big paper plates for bases - if you do that, make sure they are the sturdy kind. Or see if your local grocery store will let you have a handful of unused meat trays (don't try recycling used ones, not healthy) to use as bases.

Good luck, and have fun!