Gingerbread Houses

#TheCompleteSeries6lessons

This downloadable series of lessons includes detailed lesson plans, slideshow presentations and printable teaching resources.

#Lesson1Design

Jump into the festive spirit by finding out why we make gingerbread houses at Christmas time. Investigate and research existing gingerbread and edible houses to inspire the children’s imaginations. The children use what they have seen to generate their own design criteria and sketch and design edible houses of their own, resulting in a final group design.

This downloadable lesson includes a detailed lesson plan, a slideshow presentation and printable teaching resources.

#Lesson2ComputerDesign

Let the children take the next step in the design process: making pattern templates. Challenge the children to follow their design ideas to create templates or floor plans using a computer. How accurate can they make their template? What tools could they use? These templates can then be used when making the real edible house.

This downloadable lesson includes a detailed lesson plan, a slideshow presentation and printable teaching resources.

#Lesson3DesignImprovements

No design is perfect the first time around. Teach your class the importance of planning ahead and amending plans to improve them. If they’re baking gingerbread, the children will have the chance to prototype their house using the templates they made previously. If they’re biscuit builders, they need to investigate how many biscuits they’re going to need and plan out their building method.

This downloadable lesson includes a detailed lesson plan, a slideshow presentation and printable teaching resources.

#Lesson4Construction

A test of accuracy, patience and resilience for your class as they begin to bake and build their edible houses. Gingerbread builders need to be accurate in their measurements of ingredients, whilst biscuit builders need to use gentle hands to keep the walls of their house perpendicular.

This downloadable lesson includes a detailed lesson plan, a slideshow presentation and printable teaching resources.

#Lesson5Decorating

Give your children the opportunity to learn the skill of piping icing. They can then use this to decorate their edible houses with sweets and details. As well as a piping bag, the children have the choice to use different tools to apply the icing to their houses, deciding on the suitability of each tool for this purpose.

This downloadable lesson includes a detailed lesson plan, a slideshow presentation and printable teaching resources.

#Lesson6Evaluating

In this final lesson the children are given the opportunity to give and receive constructive feedback from their peers. They look at how feedback and reviews are used by existing producers and companies to improve their products and apply this idea to their own products. Using the feedback they received from their peers the children evaluate their edible house.

This downloadable lesson includes a detailed lesson plan, a slideshow presentation and printable teaching resources.

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Curriculum Objectives covered

• KS2 - use research and develop design criteria to inform the design of innovative, functional, appealing products that are fit for purpose, aimed at particular individuals or groups
• KS2 - generate, develop, model and communicate their ideas through discussion, annotated sketches, cross-sectional and exploded diagrams, prototypes, pattern pieces and computer-aided design
• KS2 - select from and use a wider range of tools and equipment to perform practical tasks [for example, cutting, shaping, joining and finishing], accurately
• KS2 - evaluate their ideas and products against their own design criteria and consider the views of others to improve their work