A Gingerbread Children’s House

Two winters ago I made the shell of a gingerbread “Children’s Garden”, and brought it to school to ask the children for help in finishing it up.  They added the playground and various details to make it really look like the school.  We kept it in our lobby for the whole month of December, and each day at least one child would give me an idea about how to improve it.  One five year old boy in particular took a great interest in the gingerbread Children’s Garden, telling me I had forgotten the tiny wheel that helps our front gate roll open and closed.  We used a Cherrio for that.  Next day he reminded me we had forgotten the big black tire that children sit in on the playground.  We found a licorice Life Saver for that tire. 

In the early process of finishing up the details of the house, I brought it unadorned to each classroom, and asked the children what they thought was missing.  One child raised his hand and told me I had forgotten the shelves.  That comment shifted the view for all the children, and they began to look around their classroom.  There was no Pink Tower.  What about the cubbie hooks?  And the aquarium?  So, as is the nature of working with children, one idea leads to another.  The next gingerbread Children’s Garden I make will be one without a roof so that the children can serve as interior decorators and finish their classrooms!

Posted by Kathryn Ross