How to Decorate Gingerbread With Kids

Easy Ideas for Wonky, Wonderful Bakes

There's a moment every December when the kitchen smells of ginger and cinnamon, the icing bag is (mostly) in the right hands, and someone proudly announces that their gingerbread man now has seven buttons and a moustache. That's the magic we're here for.

Decorating gingerbread is the best bit of Christmas baking. It's creative, a little bit sticky, and there's no wrong answer. Whether you're dressing up a batch of gingerbread men or turning a gingerbread house into a snowy cottage, these ideas are easy enough for little hands and fun enough for the grown-ups too.

No fancy piping skills required. And yes, we fully embrace the mess.

What You Need to Decorate Gingerbread

Before the fun starts, set up a decorating station. A tray or baking sheet for each child keeps sprinkles (roughly) in one place and makes clearing up far easier.

Your gingerbread: cooled completely, or the icing will slide right off. New to baking it? Our how to make gingerbread men guide walks you through it.
Icing: white icing for piping, plus a few colours (see the recipe below).
Piping bags: small disposable bags or a sandwich bag with a tiny corner snipped off.
Sweets and sprinkles: chocolate buttons, mini marshmallows, jelly sweets, silver balls, hundreds and thousands.
Store-cupboard extras: desiccated coconut for snow, pretzels for fences, mini cereal hoops for wreaths.
Small bowls: one per decoration, so little fingers can pick and choose.

Short on time? Our Gingerbread house Craft Kit, includes the gingerbread mix, icing sugar, piping bags and decorations. Just add butter and an egg.

The Best Icing for Decorating Gingerbread

You only need two types of icing, and both start with a bag of icing sugar.

Simple water icing (for little ones)

Mix 250g icing sugar with 2–3 tablespoons of water, a teaspoon at a time, until it's thick like toothpaste. It's egg-free, quick and perfect for faces, buttons and squiggles. Add a drop of food colouring to a few small bowls for a rainbow of options.

Royal icing (for houses and crisp details)

Royal icing sets hard, so it's the one to use for gluing on roof sweets and piping icicles. Whisk 250g icing sugar with one egg white and a squeeze of lemon juice until thick and glossy. For younger children, swap the fresh egg white for royal icing sugar or dried egg white, available in most supermarkets.

Our tip: if the icing runs, add more icing sugar. If it's too stiff to squeeze, add a few drops of water. It's very forgiving.

Gingerbread Man Decorating Ideas Kids Will Love

Gingerbread men are the perfect blank canvas. Here's how to decorate gingerbread men in ways that are easy, quick and brilliantly silly.

The classic

Two currant eyes, a piped smile and three chocolate-button buttons. Simple, timeless, and the one Grandma will always ask for.

Christmas jumper gingerbread

Pipe zigzags, stripes and snowflakes across the tummy, then add sprinkles for sparkle. The wackier the better: it's the festive jumper you'd never dare to wear.

Family portrait

Give each gingerbread man a family member's hair, glasses or favourite colour. Expect lots of giggles (and a few unflattering beards).

Dressed-up gingerbread

Turn them into reindeer with pretzel antlers and a red sweet nose, or into elves with green icing hats. A handful of jelly sweets goes a long way.

Little-hands tip: pipe the outline yourself and let younger children fill it in with sprinkles. They get all the fun, without the frustration.

Gingerbread House Decorating Ideas

Once your house is standing (our Gingerbread House Guide shows you how to stick it together), it's time to make it a home. These gingerbread house decorating ideas work for every age and every level of wobbly.

Snow-covered cottage

Spread white icing over the roof and let it drip down the edges like melting snow. Dust with icing sugar through a sieve for a just-fallen look.

Sweetie roof tiles

Line up chocolate buttons, mini biscuits or cereal squares in rows across the roof. It's the perfect job for patient little helpers.

Icicles and fairy lights

Pipe short downward drips along the roof edge for icicles. Then pipe a wavy line underneath and dot it with coloured sweets for twinkling fairy lights.

A garden that sparkles

Add a pretzel fence, a path of chocolate buttons and trees made from upside-down ice cream cones covered in green icing.

Windows and doors

Pipe a door and window frames, then fill the windows with yellow icing so the house looks warm and lit from inside.

Let them go wild

Sometimes the best gingerbread house has a jelly-sweet swimming pool and a marshmallow snowman on the chimney. Let the children lead and the story will write itself.

Tips for Decorating Gingerbread With Kids

A little prep keeps the joy high and the stress low.

Matching the job to the age

Ages 3–5: sprinkles, sticking on sweets and dabbing coconut snow. Pipe the icing "glue" for them first.
Ages 6–8: simple piping with a small bag, such as faces, buttons and zigzags.
Ages 9 and up: icicles, fairy lights, window frames and their own big ideas.

Keeping the mess (mostly) manageable

Give everyone their own tray to work on.
Only fill piping bags halfway, so small hands can squeeze them easily.
Twist the top of the bag and hold it with a peg or elastic band to stop leaks.
Lay down a wipe-clean tablecloth, then relax. Sticky fingers mean it's going well.

Letting it set

Leave decorated gingerbread to set for a couple of hours, or overnight for houses. Then comes the hardest part: deciding who gets to eat the chimney.

Ready to Get Decorating?

The best gingerbread is never the neatest. It's the one with a lopsided smile, too many sweets on the roof and a proud little baker standing next to it.

If you'd like everything in one box, our Gingerbread House Craft Kit has the gingerbread mix, icing sugar, piping bags, decorations and a gingerbread man cutter, so you can bake, build and decorate in one festive afternoon. You'll find more festive fun in our bake and craft kits.

Want a new bake and craft adventure on your doorstep every month? Crumbs Club makes a lovely Christmas present that keeps on giving.

Happy decorating!

Kate & Louise xx

FAQ

What is the easiest thing for kids to bake at Christmas?

Chocolate chip cookies are the easiest, because there's no rolling or cutting. Gingerbread biscuits are a close second.

Can toddlers help with Christmas baking?

Yes, from around age 3, with an adult. Let them pour, stir, cut shapes and decorate, and keep the oven an adult job.

What’s included in a Craft & Crumb Christmas baking kit for kids?

Our Christmas baking kits come with pre-measured dry ingredients and simple step-by-step instructions, so children can mix, bake and decorate with less mess and less prep for you. Check the product page for the exact contents of each kit.

Can I send a Christmas baking kit as a gift?

Yes. Christmas baking kits are easy to send as a gift for children, families and grandparents. Just add the kit to your basket and enter the recipient’s delivery address at checkout. For a gift that keeps going after Christmas, see our Crumbs Club subscription.