Mrs. Wheeler, Union Hill School third grade teacher, designed this festive gingerbread house display for the holidays and we think its the perfect compliment to your Christmas decor! Not only does it provide a splash of color to the classroom (and take up an entire wall!), it inspires some fun crafts that are sure to get your students in the holiday spirit!

Gingerbread Man Glyph

A glyph uses pictures to collect and organize data. For this bulletin board display, Mrs. Wheeler used a gingerbread man glyph to find out fun facts about her students. Here's how it works - Mrs. Wheeler created a glyph legend for students to use when decorating their gingerbread person templates. For example:

The legend continues, having students select eye, mouth, and other decoration styles based on personal information and preferences. At the end, it's fun to hang up the gingerbread people, covering up student names, then have classmates guess which craft belongs to each student based on the information presented! [NOTE: You can find other glyph examples/inspiration at Mathwire.]

Gingerbread House Poem

Mrs. Wheeler also added this fun gingerbread house poem to the display:

You might also consider having your students write winter poems of their own to be attached to their gingerbread person or displayed elsewhere on the board.

Gingerbread House Christmas Wall Display

• Background: The original design does not have a background (the elements are mounted directly onto the wall), but you might consider using light green or blue background paper to tie everything together!
• Title: The "titles" used for the display are the headings on the gingerbread man glyph legend and the gingerbread house poem. No overarching title is used.
• Border: As with the background, the original design does not make use of a border, but if you've created a paper background you might consider adding a winter-themed bulletin board trimmer, creating a border from homemade candy cutouts, or even adding a border of handmade snowflakes.
• Decoration: 1) The Gingerbread House. Begin with the basics, a large square, a large triangle, and a small rectangle cut from light brown bulletin board paper. Attach these to the center of your board - the triangle roof on top of the square house, and the rectangle chimney on either side of the triangle roof. From white craft paper, create windows and a door. Mrs. Wheeler rounded the tops, but you could also create regular square windows and rectangular door if that seems easier. Mount these cutouts onto dark brown craft paper, creating a "wooden" border, then use a brown marker to create the crisscross detailing on both windows and door. Position these cutouts on the house. From white bulletin board paper or crafting paper, create a "snow" border by cutting 3" strips of paper and using scissors to scallop one edge. Fit these pieces around each side of the roof, under each window, and on top of the chimney. Finish off the gingerbread house by adding groupings of holly berries and leaves, winter mints (smaller versions of the crafts found here), a large candy heart in the center of the house, and cotton ball "chimney smoke". You might also consider adding a bit of cotton to the snow border to create a three-dimensional effect. 2) The Gingerbread Men. Use your students' crafts!

Add the poem and glyph legend, carefully scripted in Christmas colors onto poster board or easel paper, and you're set! This winter scene is sure to be a hit!