Christmas traditions – like most holidays – center largely around food. When you or a family member have food allergies this can be tricky. Most of the time navigating around the allergy means finding a safe alternative – without eggs, milk, nuts, etc. This year we decided to go a slightly different route for the popular Christmas tradition of building a gingerbread house.
I had checked a couple popular brands in store thinking I might get lucky with an allergy friendly version. No such luck. I was going to check online for an allergy safe kit when I found this version at JoAnn Fabrics.
This 3D Foam Gingerbread Kit from their Pop! brand was exactly what I was looking for this year. It’s foam, not food, so definitely allergy friendly. It does say ages 6+, so it was maybe a little advanced for Jonathan alone, but it was going to a group project between myself, Clara and Jonathan.
The kit came with A LOT of pieces – most of which had to be punched out of larger sheets. This was the perfect activity for Clara and Jonathan. Jonathan did the larger pieces and Clara did the smaller ones. I assembled the house to get a us started and the kids helped with the roof and windows.
Once Jonathan had punched out the “Jonathan” gingerbread in his words – he was over it. All he wanted to do was be Godzilla to the house with his gingerbread. HAHA!
Clara powered through and helped me complete the gingerbread house. Start to finish I think it took us an hour to an hour and a half. Definitely a time commitment, but isn’t it always??
Clara said she liked doing a regular gingerbread instead of this foam one – so she could eat some of the candies as we went. At least she’s honest! Personally, I’m not a fan of regular gingerbread houses. They never go together very easily, they don’t look the best and does anyone ever honestly eat them?? I liked the change of pace with this foam kit, but maybe next year we will be able to find an allergy friendly version! If you know of any such kits be sure to leave us a comment!
