Make an adorably simple DIY gingerbread play bakery out of felt or cardboard! This is a wonderfully cozy pretend play activity for kids that helps them work on their fine motor skills…
Oh snap, we’ve gone gingerbread crazy! Over the weekend, I made a pair of adorably silly gingerbread softies, and while playing with the felt and patterns, it dawned on me that the thick felt was perfectly suited for some real-life-sized play gingerbread cookies.
I sat down with some scissors and came up with a bundle of holiday gingerbread templates – gingerbread houses, icing outlines, traditional winter-themed shapes, and even gingerbread people that have already been nibbled on (I tend to start with the arm, myself).
Bakeries are one of my favorite dramatic play arrangements for kids. The imaginative play processes can help encourage the development of actual kitchen skills, reduce stress, support good communication, and motivate self-initiated independent play.
A felt gingerbread play set for cookie decorating works out fine motor skills. And simple math can easily be incorporated when using play order forms, adding up prices, or just counting the inventory of your gingerbread bakery.
If you have older kids, these felt gingerbread cookies are also an excellent way to practice simple stitches and embroidery. Sew on a button, practice embroidering an eye, or make a simple pattern. Their size is perfect for little hands, and free-stitching looks super cute on these little sweets.
Packaged with some real baking utensils, this set of felt gingerbread “cookies” makes a darling handmade gift for little ones and is lovely for holiday bakery dramatic play (we even recycled an old bakery box we could use as part of our play set).
Make more holiday gingerbread play magic with the tutorial and free patterns for Nibble and Snap – our DIY gingerbread softies!
For your own DIY gingerbread bakery dramatic play, you’ll need:
BASIC DIY COOKIE SUPPLIES:
- Scrap cardboard or (2) pieces of brown felt – I used this quarter-inch thick 12-inch by 12-inch Dimensions Wool Felt in Saddle Brown.
- Scissors
- Our printable gingerbread play bakery kit
FOR FELT “ICING”
- Small squares of colorful felt (I like buying customizable felt sheet set like these or these).
DECORATING SUPPLIES:
- Buttons, beads, sequins, ricrac, bells, or similar items for extra decoration
- Yarn and/or ribbon
- Fabric paints and a couple of brushes
- A low-temp glue gun or craft glue
FOR CARDBOARD “ICING”
- DIY puffy paint (see below)
- Assorted hard candies or baking decorations
How to Make a Gingerbread Bakery Dramatic Play Center – DIY Instructions:
Download and print our gingerbread cookie templates.
Download and print the gingerbread cookie templates you’d like to use. Choose a variety of gingerbread people, holiday shapes, or gingerbread houses!
Tip: You can create your own templates by tracing around cookie cutters.
Trace and cut out paper, cardboard, or felt gingerbread cookies.
Trace onto the felt. I make light lines with a permanent marker, then flip over for play. I also used a thick felt (I think it’s typically used as a base for needle felting). This felt made nice thick cookies that work exceptionally well for pretend play and covering with felt “icing.”
Cut out your felt play gingerbread cookies using craft or sewing scissors.
Play!
Gather and lay out simple supplies, then watch them bake!
This time of year I’m positively buried in cardboard boxes (especially now that I’m getting most things delivered instead of doing in-store shopping). You can put those boxes to good reuse by switching up the felt for cardboard and making some paintable gingerbread “treats”!
I ran across this wonderful DIY puffy paint from The Artful Parent that would make the perfect piped “icing” on nice thick cardboard cookie cutouts! You could use a layer of colorful paint for icing, or pipe on details and features. Add some decorative craft supplies (think small pom poms, buttons, paper scraps, googly eyes, chalk pastels, jingle bells, feathers, hard candies, etc.)
Looking for a way to add some “piping” to your gingerbread cookies, but want to avoid the extra cleanup of paint? Making piped features with yarn and white craft twine is a great way to work with some unique materials and practice a new style of “drawing”.
Accessories for Your DIY Gingerbread Bakery Dramatic Play Center
There are so many ways you can arrange a simple play space for kids’ bakery fun. Here are a few of my favorite kitchen dramatic play supplies – all things you probably already have at home!
- A cookie sheet
- A spatula
- A rolling pin
- An oven mitt
- An apron
- Cookie cutters
- A cash register
- Sprinkles or other candies
- DIY gingerbread playdough and mixing bowls
- Brown lunch bags (for packing up cookie orders!)
- Signs and forms from our printable play bakery kit
Simply set all the pieces on a low tabletop or the kitchen floor and watch them go to town! Let them mix some play dough gingerbread, roll it, then use cookie cutters with it.
Invite them to decorate their cookies by placing bowls of cake decorations or craft supplies out. Put in orders and invite your little ones to match your order with their cookies and package up a specific number.
Six More Simple Gingerbread Play and Craft Ideas
1. Make Gingerbread Stick Puppets
Print our big gingerbread man templates, trace them onto cardboard, and use felt or scrap fabric scraps to dress them in festive holiday clothes. Glue a popsicle stick to the back to turn your gingerbread people into simple gingerbread stick puppets.
2. Create Puffy No-Sew Gingerbread Ornaments
Cut a few sets of gingerbread people out of felt and present them with decorative items (sequins, bric-a-brac, etc.) and craft glue as an invitation to design DIY felt gingerbread man ornaments. Once your kiddos have finished decorating a gingerbread person, let it dry for 24 hours. Use a second felt gingerbread man as a backing – just align, pin (don’t forget to pin in a ribbon hanger!) then sew with a simple stitch and stuff.
3. Make DIY Paper Gingerbread Ornaments
For a simplified paper gingerbread ornament, print a page of small gingerbread men (or women!) (or houses!) onto cardstock, decorate, and tape a ribbon to the back for simple but lovely kid-made bakery baubles.
4. Build a Cardboard Gingerbread Holiday Village
Make a cardboard gingerbread village! Visit our modern mini cardboard village post to see how we used the gingerbread house templates from this set to build a fab small world scene to decorate the mantel.
5. Set up an Easy Gingerbread Art Invitation
Feeling the holiday time crunch? Print a few people and house templates out onto cardstock or copy paper for an instant gingerbread art invitation. Kids can color and design their own gingerbread people with crayons or markers.
6. Make Gingerbread Paper Dolls
Create a set of gingerbread people paper dolls by printing and cutting out our templates, punching each hand with a hole punch, then decorating. Use small metal craft brads to join the gingerbread paper dolls together to create a lovely kid-made holiday garland!
More Holiday Dramatic Play Ideas
For another December dramatic play activity, create your own mini holiday mail station – complete with a lovely set of festive printable holiday stationary. Or take a virtual year-end trip to the North Pole using our free printable plane ticket set.
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