Colour Changing Gingerbread Houses

I loved making these gingerbread houses, originally they were going to be a craft project, but then I had the idea of using coloured cellophane for windows and using them to learn about primary and secondary colours.

You can keep it really simple and just use a torch to light the inside or if you have the equipment take the opportunity to make a simple circuit.

If you’d prefer a more traditional gingerbread house I also have a making a strong gingerbread house investigation testing different strengths of icing sugar.

Don’t forget to check out my other easy science experiments for kids too!

Light up gingerbread house science activity

What you need:

Cardboard

Scissors

Cellophane – primary colours work best

Either a basic circuit with a light or a torch

Glue or tape. I used a hot glue gun ( ask an adult to help )

Felt tip or chalk pens to decorate.

Instructions

First you need to construct a gingerbread house. I made a simple triangle shape. To do this cut out two squares ( the same size ) and two triangles ( the same size ).

Cut a window in one of the squares and attach one colour of cellophane with tape.

Use the glue to construct the house.

Cut out two more squares from the cardboard and a window inside them about the same size as the window in the house.

Use a different colour of cellophane to place inside the windows. I used red, blue and yellow for the windows so I could place them on top of each other to make secondary colours.

Turn off the lights and place a torch or your circuit inside the house. Place different colour windows over each other to see how the colours change.