I love incorporating a gingerbread man theme into my winter planning for preschool.
I start off reading many different versions of the story to the kiddos. This gives them an introduction to the story, and it allows us to compare the different versions.
The students have fun listening to the different stories, and they really enjoy reading along. Here are more ways I’ve incorporated gingerbread man fun into early childhood centers!
Ideas for a Preschool Gingerbread Man Theme
As I mentioned above, I love gingerbread man activities. In fact, a gingerbread man theme is probably one of my favorite winter themes for preschool!
Read below for some of the preschoolers’ favorite gingerbread man ideas.
Dramatic Play Gingerbread Man Activity
Turn your dramatic play center into the old woman’s kitchen!
The kids will have a blast reenacting the story of the gingerbread man, and you can use just a few simple materials to set the whole thing up.
Growing in Pre-K’s “Clear the Cookie Sheet” Game
As with any games involving dice, the kids loved playing this.
It also helped give them more background knowledge about subtraction, as they had to remove the correct number of gingerbread.
Gingerbread Craft
For free arts and crafts, the students decorated foam gingerbread people.
They used brown foam shaped like gingerbread men, glue, buttons, and ribbon to make their own versions.
Some made simple versions, others loaded the gingerbread people with tons of items, and one of the kiddos even made a pirate gingerbread man!
Easy Life-Size Gingerbread House
Love the look of those intricate gingerbread houses for the dramatic play center but don’t have the time to make one?
Check out this easy set up for your preschoolers!
Life-Size Gingerbread House
Act it Out
In the home center, the boys and girls acted out the story of the gingerbread man. There were mixing bowls, utensils, cookie sheets, cookie cutters, foam gingerbread men, and foam “icing” shapes for them to use.
Some of them preferred to “decorate” the cookies, while others were more interested in going through the story line.
Gingerbread Man Printable Ten Frames
Use these printable ten frames in the math center during your gingerbread man theme!
Build Gingerbread Houses
In the building area, the kids used blocks to make gingerbread homes.
Some used the really large blocks to make life-size gingerbread houses! Others used the small blocks to make “a Gingerbread New York City!”
They were tickled to find some wooden people in with the blocks that looked an awful lot like mini gingerbread men.
Paint a Gingerbread Person
The kiddos free-painted gingerbread men and women at the art center.
It’s always fun to see the different kinds of gingerbread men the kids paint.
There are usually some abstract versions, overly decorated gingerbread, and very detailed types.
Gingerbread Man and Book-Making
I love making books with my students, and this book is a fun take on the gingerbread man story.
The children seemed to get into the story, and their bookmarks/pointers were quite interesting.
Gingerbread Dough
In the discovery center (aka the sensory table), the children had gingerbread dough mix that had been combined with flour. They loved the smell of it, and many of them really enjoyed the tactile nature of the mix.
It was, obviously, a very messy center! The kids also had gingerbread play dough in the discovery center later on in the week. It was a huge hit!
Gingerbread House Art
The children enjoyed using a large piece of chart paper to create and decorate their own gingerbread house.
They may have been overly enthusiastic with their creation, but they had a blast with it! They spent almost an hour designing the house and talking about what the gingerbread family would do in the house.
Decorate Cookies or Houses
Letting the children decorate gingerbread cookies or gingerbread houses is something that always goes over well with my students.
This past year, we focused on making cookies with the kids. We then used icing, sprinkles, and a few other candy bits to decorate the cookies with.
I’ve also decorated gingerbread houses with my students. This was fun, too, but didn’t give them the immediate snack that cookies did.
Gingerbread Man Hunt
If we’re making cookies together, it is SO FUN to set up a “hunt” for the children to complete.
The cookies mysteriously disappear from the oven, leaving the children written clues all around the school.
The other teachers help us out, guiding the children to the notes and encouraging their detective skills. It’s always a blast to see them discover the runaway cookies.
If you’d like more ideas for an early childhood gingerbread man theme, as well as book suggestions, please check out my Gingerbread Man board on Pinterest.
What do you like to include in your gingerbread man theme?
Preschool Gingerbread Lesson Plans
Save time and get right to the learning fun with our printable lesson plan sets. Each set includes over 30 playful learning activities related to the theme, book suggestions, and activity explanations. We’ve provided different versions for home preschool families and classroom teachers so all activities are geared directly toward your needs.
This set also includes the following related printables:
- Character Puppets (in color and b/w)
- Gingerbread Color Sorting Mats and Object Cards
- Uppercase and Lowercase Letter Matching Colors (in color and b/w)
- Gingerbread House Measurement and Size Sorting Cards
- Gingerbread Man Number Cards (in color and b/w)
- Ten-Frame Mats 1-10 (in color and b/w)
- Gingerbread Man Pattern Prompt Task Cards
- Gingerbread Man Rhyming Sort
- Ending Sound Matching Puzzles
- Roll and Graph Game
- Gingerbread Man Water Science Experiment Recording Sheet (in color and b/w)
- Cookie Recording Sheet (in color and b/w)
- Decorate a Gingerbread House Counting Mats for Numbers 1-10 and one blank version in color and b/w
- Gingerbread Five Senses Recording Sheet (in color and b/w)
Get your lesson plans here:
Preschool Classroom Gingerbread Man Lesson Plans
Home Preschool Gingerbread Man Lesson Plans
You can also find us on Teachers Pay Teachers
Risa says
January 21, 2013 at 10:47 pmLooks like so much fun! Glad the kids enjoyed it.
Mary Catherine says
January 22, 2013 at 1:23 pmThanks for stopping by!
Tracey@We-Made-That says
January 24, 2013 at 1:58 pmWhat great fun ideas! And it looks like the kids had fun with them all. Thanks for sharing!
Mary Catherine says
January 24, 2013 at 4:25 pmThank you! I had fun looking at the great ideas listed on your linky party. 🙂
Jennifer says
November 27, 2017 at 7:10 pmFirst we read the Gingerbread man story. I stop at the part where the fox tells the Gingerbread man to get into the water. The children predict what will happen to Gingerbread man once it gets into water. We then use a container of water for each group and a Little Debbie gingerbread cookie and predict what will happen when you put the gingerbread man into the water. We watch to see what happens and talk about it. We discuss wether the predictions we made were correct. Before starting we talk about vocabulary words like mushy, crumble, sink, float, dissolve. ect… Sometimes the cookie will get mushy, crumble and sink within a few minutes, but sometimes it might take awhile. I have kept mine overnight this year to see what happens because it did not crumble and dissolve like it has in the past. You just have to play it by ear and see what happens. A neat science experiment for preschool children.
Mary Catherine says
December 1, 2017 at 11:46 amJennifer, what an awesome experiment! We’ve done that before, too, and it always engages the kids. Thanks for sharing! 🙂