Gingerbread house contest ideas: 20 themes, rules and a scorecard
Everything to run a fair, funny gingerbread build at work: formats, supplies per team, rules, a points scorecard to print and games for the leftovers.
A gingerbread house decorating competition is one of the few office contests where everyone can join, nobody needs a talent, and the losers still get to eat their entry. These gingerbread house contest ideas take you from the format and the shopping list to 20 themes, rules that keep it fair, a judging system out of 100 points with a printable judge scorecard, 10 cheap prizes and 12 gingerbread games for the rest of the afternoon.
How to run a gingerbread house contest at work
Announce it two to three weeks ahead so you can order kits and book a room. Then pick one of four formats.
- One-afternoon build. Teams of 3 or 4 build in the office in 60 to 90 minutes, then judging happens on the spot. The easiest version to run.
- Week-long build. Each team gets its kit on Monday, builds during breaks in a shared space and presents on Friday. Bigger, more ambitious houses.
- Remote build with kits. Ship a kit to every home, build on camera at the same time, and judge from the screen or from photos sent by a deadline.
- Hybrid build. Office teams build together while remote people build solo at home. Judge them in separate categories so neither side is at a disadvantage.
Running it as part of a bigger week? A build day slots neatly into our Christmas spirit week plan, next to the sweater day from our ugly sweater party guide.
Supply list and quantities per team
For a team of 3 or 4 building one house about the size of a standard kit. Buy about 10 percent extra icing and candy for the room.
- Gingerbread house kit, or graham crackers to build from scratch1 kit, or 1 box
- Royal icing (stiff, for gluing and piping)2 to 3 cups
- Piping bags, or zip-top bags with a corner snipped3
- Assorted candy: gumdrops, candy canes, mints, pretzels, sprinkles1 to 2 pounds
- Cardboard base covered in foil, or a cake board1 (12 by 12 in)
- Cans or mugs to prop the walls while they set4
- Butter knife or small spatula1
- Tray or placemat to catch crumbs1
- Paper towels and wet wipes1 roll, 1 pack
For the room: a visible timer, team name cards, a phone for photos, spare icing and printed scorecards for the judges.
20 gingerbread house competition ideas
A theme turns ten identical cottages into ten different entries. Give every team the same theme, or let each team draw one from a hat.
1. Our office. Your building or floor in gingerbread, down to the coffee machine.
2. Famous landmark. A tower, bridge or stadium from anywhere in the world, recognizable from across the room.
3. Our city's skyline. Each team takes one building and the entries line up into a skyline.
4. Client's product. Build what your customers buy, or the place they use it.
5. Ski lodge. Pretzel-log walls, a chimney and skiers made of candy on a powdered-sugar slope.
6. Lighthouse. A tall round tower is a real engineering test, finished with a candy lamp at the top.
7. Treehouse. A house on a pretzel-rod trunk with a ladder and a rope swing.
8. Castle. Towers, a drawbridge and a candy moat around the base.
9. Moon base. Domes, antennas and a rover parked outside on a crater-covered base.
10. Tiny house. Small, perfect and full of detail. The judges get a magnifying glass.
11. Retro diner. Checkerboard floor, a neon sign in candy and stools out front.
12. Train station. A platform, a clock tower and a candy train pulling in.
13. Mid-century modern. Flat roofs, big windows and clean lines. No gumdrops allowed.
14. Barn and farm. A red barn, a fence of candy canes and animals made of marshmallows.
15. Greenhouse. Clear candy windows with a garden of candy plants inside.
16. Bakery storefront. A shop window full of tiny cakes and a striped awning.
17. Beach hut in winter. A tropical hut with snow on the palm trees.
18. Fire station. Big red doors, a truck out front and a pole visible through the window.
19. Office of the future. What your workplace looks like in 50 years, in gingerbread.
20. Team mascot's house. Where your team's mascot, real or invented, would live.
Rules for a gingerbread house competition
Post these with the announcement, so arguments happen before the build and not during judging.
1. Teams of 3 or 4. Mix departments if you can, so it doubles as a chance to meet people.
2. Every team gets the same supplies. No outside candy, unless the rule is one secret ingredient each.
3. A fixed time limit of 60 or 90 minutes. Hands off the house when the timer ends.
4. Decide before the day: everything edible, or edible on the outside with anything hidden inside. A cardboard base is allowed either way.
5. No pieces baked, built or decorated ahead of time at home.
6. Bases no bigger than 12 by 12 inches, so every entry fits on one judging table.
7. Judges don't score their own team, and they score before the people's choice vote opens.
8. Nobody eats any entry until judging and photos are done.
How to judge: categories, points and a scorecard
Five weighted categories that add up to 100 points per judge. Weighting matters in gingerbread house competitions: a beautiful house that collapses shouldn't beat a sturdy one by a mile, and neither should win on structure alone.
- Creativity. An idea no other team had, or a familiar one done in a surprising way.25 pts
- Craftsmanship. Clean icing lines, straight walls and details that hold up close.25 pts
- Theme. You can tell what it is before the team explains it.20 pts
- Structure. It stands, the roof stays on and it survives being carried to the judging table.15 pts
- Story. A 30-second pitch from the team: what it is and why they built it.15 pts
The scoring system
- Use three judges. Ideally people who didn't build: a leader, someone from facilities or reception, and one wild card.
- Score every house out of 100. Each judge fills in one scorecard for all the teams, using the five categories.
- Add the judges' totals. The highest combined score wins. A tie goes to the higher creativity score.
- Run people's choice separately. Everyone else votes with one sticker each after the judges finish. It's its own award.
One page per judge, with rows for eight teams, the points for each category and the key at the bottom.
Judging cubicles and doors instead of houses? Our office Christmas decorating contest guide has its own themes and a 1-to-5 scorecard for each entry.
10 prize ideas that cost almost nothing
The prize matters less than the ceremony. Hand it over in front of everyone, with a photo.
1. A golden spatula trophy: a cheap spatula, gold spray paint and the year written on the handle.
2. The winning house on display in the lobby, with a little plaque naming the builders.
3. First pick of the leftover candy, which matters more to people than you'd think.
4. Leaders bring the winning team coffee, delivered to their desks.
5. Matching chef hats for the winning team, to wear at the next all-hands.
6. A certificate of gingerbread excellence, signed by the most senior person you can find.
7. The right to choose next year's theme.
8. A small bakery box for every member of the winning team.
9. A framed photo of the winners with their house, hung in the kitchen.
10. The winning house as the opening slide of the next team meeting.
12 gingerbread games beyond the contest
Short games for a warm-up, a smaller group or the leftover candy. Most use the same supplies as the main build.
1. Gingerbread trivia
The host writes ten questions about winter baking and holiday traditions. Teams answer on a whiteboard, and every right answer earns a handful of extra candy for their house.
15 minutes · any size · a host, whiteboards
2. Decorating relay
Teams line up at their house. Each person gets 60 seconds to add one thing, then hands the icing bag to the next teammate.
10 minutes · teams of 4 or more · one bag per team
3. Blindfolded build
One teammate wears a blindfold and does all the building. The others can only give spoken directions.
15 minutes · teams of 3 · a blindfold, a mini kit
4. One-hand build
Partners build a house together, each with one hand behind their back, so they have to work like a single pair of hands.
15 minutes · pairs · a mini kit per pair
5. Silent build
The whole team builds without saying a word. Pointing and gestures only, and the team that talks loses a minute.
20 minutes · teams of 3 or 4 · a kit per team
6. Tallest tower
Graham crackers and icing only. The tallest tower still standing after a two-minute wait wins.
10 minutes · any size · graham crackers, icing, a tape measure
7. Describe and build
One teammate sees a photo of a finished house and describes it. The rest build it without seeing the photo, then compare.
15 minutes · teams of 3 or 4 · printed photos
8. Earthquake test
After judging, shake the table gently in rounds, a little harder each time. The last house standing wins a bonus prize.
5 minutes · after the contest · a sturdy table
9. Gingerbread bingo
Cards list features like a candy-cane fence, icicles, a gumdrop path or a chimney. People walk the entries and mark what they spot; first full row wins.
10 minutes · any size · printed bingo cards
10. Mystery bag build
Every team gets a sealed bag with different candy. Teams may make one trade with another team before the timer starts.
30 minutes · teams of 3 or 4 · paper bags of candy
12. Swap and finish
Halfway through the build, every team moves to the next table and finishes another team's house.
Adds no time · teams of 3 or 4 · works best with 4 or more teams
Want more friendly rivalry through the year? Our office competition ideas keep it going after the holidays, and our holiday luncheon ideas pair well with a build in the afternoon.
Build tips that save the day
Most gingerbread disasters are the same three: soft icing, a rushed roof and nothing to carry the house on.
- Use royal icing as glue. Mix it stiff, like toothpaste. Frosting from a tub never sets hard enough to hold a wall.
- Decorate walls while they're flat. Pipe windows and doors on the panels before you stand them up. It's faster and nothing slides off.
- Pipe a thick line on every joint. Run icing along both edges that meet, press them together and wipe the extra.
- Let the walls set for 20 minutes. Prop them with cans and leave them before the roof goes on. A rushed roof is the main reason houses collapse.
- Build on a cardboard base. Foil-covered cardboard lets you carry the house to the judging table without touching it.
- Keep icing bags covered. Icing crusts in minutes. Lay a damp paper towel over open bowls and bag tips.
- Press candy into wet icing. Add a dot of icing, then the candy, and work in small sections so it sets in place.
- Hide cracks with candy. A cracked wall gets a line of icing and a candy cane or a row of gumdrops on top.
