Gingerbread House Template (Free Printable): Small, Medium and Large + Paper Version

This gingerbread house template comes in three sizes, small, medium and large, so you can pick one that fits your baking tray, your patience and how many kids are going to be decorating it. Every piece is labelled in inches and centimeters. There’s a chimney for the medium and large houses. And if you’d rather skip the baking altogether, there’s a paper gingerbread house kids can cut, fold and decorate at the kitchen table.

It’s all one free PDF. No email needed, and it prints on US Letter or A4.

If you’re here for the paper version, it’s further down. For more festive ideas, our Christmas crafts for kids page has 25 more.

Which Size Should You Make?

• Small is the one for kids, or for making several houses at once. It fits on a dinner plate and needs less icing to hold together.
• Medium is the classic. Big enough to decorate properly, small enough to bake in one go on most trays.
• Large is a centerpiece. You’ll need two baking trays and a sturdy cake board, and probably a second batch of dough.

Not sure? Go medium. That’s the size most of the decorating ideas below are written for.

Template Sizes (Inches and Centimeters)

The roof panels are a little longer and deeper than the walls on purpose. That overhang makes it look like a real roof, and it hides any wobbly edges.

How to Use the Gingerbread House Template

1. Print at 100%. In the print settings, choose “Actual size”, not “Fit to page”, or the pieces won’t match.
2. Cut the paper pieces out and lay them flat. Card stock is easier to work with than printer paper.
3. Roll out your dough to about a quarter inch (6 mm) thick, ideally right on baking paper so you don’t have to move it.
4. Lay the templates on the dough and cut around them with a sharp knife. Cut out a door and windows now if you want them.
5. Bake following your recipe. Straight after it comes out, lay the template back on each piece and trim the edges. Gingerbread spreads a little in the oven, and warm gingerbread cuts cleanly. Cold gingerbread cracks.
6. Let the pieces cool completely, ideally overnight. Soft pieces sag.

Cutting is a grown-up job. Kids are much better at the next part anyway.

How to Put It Together

You need royal icing as the glue. Use meringue powder rather than raw egg whites if kids might sneak a taste. Make it thick, about the texture of toothpaste, and put it in a piping bag or a zip bag with the corner snipped off.

• Pipe icing along the bottom and one side edge of the front piece and press it onto the board. Hold a side wall against it.
• Add the other side wall, then the back. Prop the walls up with cans or jars while they set.
• Wait at least an hour before the roof goes on. This is the step everyone wants to rush, and it’s why so many gingerbread houses collapse.
• Pipe icing along the top edges of the walls and press on one roof panel, then the other. Hold them for a minute.
• Chimney last, once the roof is firm.

Let it set for a few hours (or overnight) before kids start piling on candy.

Gingerbread House Decorating Ideas

This is the bit everyone’s really here for.

• Roof tiles: rows of chocolate buttons, cereal squares or overlapping wafer biscuits.
• Snow: a thick layer of icing along the roof edge, pulled down into icicles with the back of a spoon.
• Windows: crushed boiled sweets melted into the window holes while baking, so they look like stained glass. (Do this on the tray, before the pieces cool.)
• A path: a line of mini marshmallows or jelly sweets from the door.
• Trees: ice cream cones turned upside down and covered in green icing.

There’s no wrong answer here, and the houses kids decorate themselves usually look the most fun.

Paper Gingerbread House (No Baking)

For younger kids, classrooms, or anyone who doesn’t want to bake, the PDF has a paper house that folds up into a 3D model.

Color it in first, with brown for the walls and whatever wild colors they like for the candy. Then cut along the solid lines, fold along the dashed ones, and glue the tab inside. The roof is a separate piece that folds in half and sits on top.

There’s also a flat coloring page of a gingerbread house, for the littlest ones.

Download the Free PDF

The free gingerbread house template PDF has the small, medium and large house pieces (with a chimney for the two bigger ones), every measurement in inches and centimeters, the fold-up paper house, and a coloring page. Free for home and classroom use.

More Christmas Printables and Crafts

• Christmas crafts for kids: 25 easy ideas with free templates
• Christmas printables for kids
• Winter crafts for kids

Gingerbread House FAQs

What size gingerbread house should I make?

The medium size here (6 inch side walls, 5 inch wide front) is a good standard. Go small for kids or for making several, and large for a centerpiece.

Is there a gingerbread house template with a chimney?

Yes. The medium and large sizes both include a four-piece chimney that sits on the roof.

How do you keep a gingerbread house from falling down?

Trim the pieces while warm so the edges are straight, let them cool completely, use thick royal icing, and wait at least an hour before adding the roof.

Can I use the template for a paper gingerbread house?

Yes. The PDF also has a fold-up paper version, which is perfect for kids and classrooms. Print it on card stock for the best results.

Do you have the template in centimeters?

Every piece is labelled in both inches and centimeters, so the gingerbread house template works for bakers in the US, UK, Canada and Australia.