Gingerbread Man Activities

I have included some favorite things that we like to do for our Gingerbread unit. We try to tie all areas of the curriculum into the unit.

The Runaway Gingerbread Man
Postcard Project

One of the things that we start at the beginning of December is our Postcard Gingerbread Project. We read lots of different versions of the Gingerbread Man and encourage the children to bring their own books in to share with us. Then we make a gingerbread man and decorate it. We copy these gingerbread men on brown construction paper and have the children decorate them. Click to enlarge. Click to enlarge photos.

We pretend that the gingerbread man has run away (we mail him) to a family member or friend. We send this letter home to the parents to explain the project. The children take this letter home to the parents along with their decorated gingerbread man that they will be mailing to a friend/family member. They also take the following letter that is mailed along with the gingerbread man.

I also include an address label with our school address on it for the person receiving the gingerbread man to return a post card to us.

We have gotten wonderful responses from all over the country! It is always exciting to get mail and the children look forward to receiving the mail from their grandma or aunt, uncles or cousins. Sometimes they send other "souvenirs" of their state or area. That makes it even more fun! This is a picture of the bulletin board that we had from last year.

Gingerbread Man Glyph

This is a map of the glyph that we do for our Gingerbread unit. We give each child a blank gingerbread man in brown construction paper for them to cut out. We do the glyph in a small group according to the map. This is a picture of our bulletin board display of the glyphs last year.

Cinnamon and Applesauce Ornaments

My poor gingerbread man has a broken leg! Click on the photo to see a close up. I like the gingerbread man cookie cutter that has the face on it. I think that Lakeshore Learning Company has these. The poem that we attach is:

Something spicy and pretty too
For the holiday season
To say I love you.
Hang me in the kitchen
Or maybe on the tree.
And every time you get a "whiff"
I hope you'll think of me!

The recipe that we use is:

Cinnamon-Applesauce Ornaments

This recipe is too simple to make only for the winter holidays -use it anytime or anywhere you want your house to smell warm
and inviting. (Note that these ornaments are not edible.)

The ingredients:
1 cup cinnamon
3/4 cup applesauce
2-3 Tablespoons of white glue

How to do it
Mix all ingredients well until they form a dough. Flatten the dough to a thickness of about 1/4 inch.   Keep in mind that the dough will be quite dry, and can be tricky to work with.

Use cookie cutters to cut out festive holiday shapes. Use a drinking straw to punch a small hole in the top of each ornament if you plan to hang them. Keep them flat and move them to a warm, dry spot for 48 hours to allow them to dry. Turn each ornament over every few hours to dry on each side. Alternatively, put them in a warm (not hot!) oven for several hours.

Sandpaper Gingerbread Man

This project was done on a piece of medium grade sandpaper. Each child was given a piece of sandpaper with the outline of the gingerbread man. They use crayons to decorate their man. We use old crayons for this. Then an iron is used to make a print. Use old newspaper and an old iron to press onto white construction paper. Then we glue the other gingerbread man onto the paper. Or, you could just use the "printed" one. The children decorated the background with crayons.

Gingerbread Headbands

This pattern was given to me by Paige Brown of Fairfield, California. The children look really cute wearing their headbands home!

Hanging Gingerbread Men

This gingerbread man was made with brown wrapping paper and was stitched on the outside edges. However, crayons can be used or markers to decorate and hang.

Gingerbread Man Graph

Each child is given a gingerbread cookie. I have a parent or helper pass a cookie to each child's desk. They are told that they are only to eat one bite. After they eat the one bite, they are given a small, paper gingerbread man (with their name on it) to record their response on the graph. We count foot, arm, body, and head. Click on the photo to see our graph.

Gingerbread Book

How to Keep a Gingerbread Man from Escaping!

We use a half piece of copy paper to make each page. The pages are:

1. Cover Title is typed for the cover. Children write their name and illustrate their cover.

2. Eat the head. Each child is given a small (about 3 inches tall) gingerbread man to decorate. They cut or tear the head off. They decorate and then glue it on the page. They add a background to the picture.

3. Eat one arm. Cut one arm and decorate the man. Glue on the page and decorate the background of the page.

4. Eat one leg. Cut one leg off and decorate man and background. Click on photo for example.

5. Yum, yum, yum! We tear scraps of brown paper for the last page to show that the gingerbread is just crumbs! They illustrate the background.

My Gingerbread Counting Book

This book is made on half sheets of copy paper as follows:

Cover: My Gingerbread Counting Book

page 1 One button on my Gingerbread man.

page 2 Two buttons on my Gingerbread man.

pages continue as above for all ten pages. We give each child a gingerbread man to decorate and add the right number of buttons. If you have lots of buttons, real buttons can be used. Or, crayons can be used to draw the buttons.

For the last page we include the following:

I have read my Gingerbread Man book to:

(please sign each time your child reads the book to you, little brother or sister, the dog or the cat!)

_________________

We include about 10 lines. We ask the children to return these to check to see how many times they read their books.

Gingerbread Man Home Project

This is a fun project to get parents involved! Each child decorates their gingerbread man at home in whatever way that they like. It is always fun to see how many different ways there are to decoratee! We provide each child with a 12x18 size brown, construction paper gingerbread man. This is a photo of some of the returned projects.

Gingerbread House

This letter is sent home to parents for assistance in making our houses at school. We have about five adults on the day that we make the houses. We make our houses using graham crackers on a small milk carton frame. The graham crackers are attached with hot glue to make them secure! We do this part ahead of time. We use the very thick, frosting that is made by a parent. We set up a table with all of the "goodies" and give each child a small paper plate to choose what they would like to use in making their house. Each table has a bowl of frosting aand each child is given a craft stick to apply the frosting. They have such fun making these wonderful creations! Click on the photo to see a sample.

Candy Decorations

We use these giant candies as hanging decorations during our Gingerbread unit. They are made on two paper plates. Each child is given a two plates with the lines drawn on the bottom of the plate for coloring. We allow them to use markers for this project, but crayons will also work. We also discuss the AB patterns and how to color every other wedge shape. That is quite difficult for some children. The two plates are stapled together and wrapped with clear cellophane paper. Ribbon, pipe cleaners or yarn can be tied on each end.

Gingerbread Muffins

Supplies:

3 Tablespoons Gingerbread mix (make sure it only needs water added. We found that Dromedary brand of mix only requires water.)

1 Tablespoon water

Materials:

one - 5 ounce waxed paper cup per child

one craft stick per child

electric skillet

measuring spoons

bowls for ingredients

permanent markers to label cups

Directions:

1. Measure 3 T. gingerbread mix into the paper cup.

2. Add 1 T. water and stir.

3. Bake in electric skillet at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.

4. Cool and eat!

Tips:

Be sure to use the waxed cups with a small ridge on the bottom. They can be purchased at most grocery stores as kitchen/bathroom cups. You do not need to add water in the electric skillet! Really...it works and the cups do not burn because of the wax. Place all cups in the skillet at the same time. One skillet usually holds at least 20 cups. Place the lid on the skillet and bake. We have the children tear the cup and remove the muffin.