Hilltown Families 
The Magic of Gingerbread: A Call for Gingerbread House Designs
The Magic of Gingerbread Competition
The Springfield Museums are pleased to announce The Magic of Gingerbread, this year’s annual gingerbread house exhibition and competition. They are inviting families and schools to submit design plans for imaginative gingerbread houses up until November 15, 2013. (Houses must be delivered by November 25.)
What does your fantasy fairy tale castle look like? Are there turrets? A moat? Maybe a drawbridge? Now, what if it was made not out of stone, but of gingerbread, icing & candy? – Gingerbread houses are a great way to engage in creative-free play with your family, and the Springfield Museums is inviting community members of all ages to be a part of their holiday exhibit, “Gingerbread Fairy Tales.” All entries will be displayed in the museum alongside fairy tale backdrops and holiday trees beginning in mid-November.
The Springfield Museums are inviting bakeries, schools, individual bakers and young people to submit design plans to create gingerbread houses that will be on view at the Springfield Science Museum as part of the holiday exhibit, “The Magic of Gingerbread.” Entries (due by November 9th) can be created by school classes, businesses, youth groups, etc. – or your family can create one of their own! Participation in the gingerbread contest offers youth a fun and creative way to experiment with architecture and design, as well as kitchen skills & creative-free play! Families with kids of all ages can design an entry together – using careful planning to perfect designs for each wall, window, and courtyard – and can easily incorporate math, problem solving, food science, etc. It’s also an excellent opportunity to discover and talk about the archetypes present in fairy tales…
Entry forms and design plans must be submitted by November 15, 2013.
Any structure, including designs based on holiday stories, recreations of historic homes or buildings, and magical make-believe creations, will be eligible. Gingerbread houses will be displayed against a backdrop of murals that represent magical mid-winter scenes, beautifully decorated holiday trees, and vignettes inspired by Charles Dickens’ classic holiday tale, A Christmas Carol.
Applicants will be notified about selection decisions by November 18. Gingerbread houses that are not pre-registered will not be accepted. Completed gingerbread houses must be delivered to the Museums on November 25 and will be on display from November 29 through December 3. Applications and guidelines may be downloaded below. For more info contact Laura Scott at lscott@springfieldmuseums.org or call 413-263-6800, ext. 387.
