If you’re looking for an easy kids’ project for a snow day or just for the holidays, try a “gingerbread” house make of graham crackers. It’s become one of my favorite seasonal activities, either for my son and I or for a playdate (where I put together the base houses in advance).

Make up a batch of icing with confectioner’s sugar and water—start with about 1/2 cup sugar to 1 tsp water and add more water if necessary. It should be thin enough to pipe a line, but not runny. Put icing into a sandwich-sized plastic zip bag and cut a small piece off a bottom corner to make a hole. (Use a proper pastry tube if you have one, of course.)

Use four graham cracker squares for the walls, two more for the roof, and one cut diagonally for the roof supports. Glue together with the icing. Let harden for about 15 minutes, and then let the kids go to work adding candies, cereal, raisins, etc. A dusting of powdered sugar over the top (a teaball makes a good applicator) gives it a snowy look.

Martha Stewart, not surprisingly, gets fancy with the concept. (That’s why she’s Martha, and I’m not.)