Gingerbread Theme for Preschoolers
Roll out a gingerbread theme for your preschoolers this winter. With book and activity recommendations, there are many fantastic ideas to try.
Why Teach Kids about Gingerbread
Encourage Literacy Development
The Gingerbread Man is a wonderful story that helps foster literacy development because it is repetitive.
While reading the story, little ones can help say the line, “Run, run, as fast as you can. You can’t catch me! I’m the Gingerbread Man!” This will boost memorization and help when retelling the story.
Sequencing of events, the setting, and the characters can all be introduced as storytelling elements to preschoolers.
Promote Imagination and Creativity
The many retellings and twists of the original gingerbread man story may encourage your preschoolers to imagine and create their own story variations.
Little ones may even want to act out one of the stories.
Teaches Cause and Effect
There are chances for preschoolers to think about cause and effect throughout all of The Gingerbread Man’s story.
From the moment the oven was opened to the gingerbread man (possibly) getting wet and falling apart, there are many opportunities to discuss cause and effect.
A fun activity below has to do with a gingerbread man getting wet.
Sensory and Motor Skill Development
Many gingerbread theme activities provide sensory exploration. They also help build strong muscles to help with motor skill development.
This article may contain affiliate links to products that may help you when homeschooling preschool.
Books To Use With a Gingerbread Theme
There are many fun variations of The Gingerbread Man to use during a gingerbread theme unit.
Be mindful that some endings of the classic book have the gingerbread man eaten by the fox.
Here are some other fun variations:
How to Catch a Gingerbread Man
Gingerbread Theme Activities
Gingerbread Man Craft
These construction paper gingerbread theme crafts are adorable and oh-so-easy to make. Gather some construction, paper, and glue and get to work putting together a paper gingerbread man.
Gingerbread Bridge
There is a sorry ending to the classic gingerbread man tale.
Work with your little one to make a river (blue silk scarf or towel).
Then construct a bridge for your paper gingerbread man- or other gingerbread man toy- so he can safely cross the river without that pesky fox. Big linking plastic blocks (like Duplo blocks) work wonderfully for this activity!
Gingerbread Button Math
Cut out small gingerbread people from construction paper or felt. Add a face and lay them on a cookie sheet. Place buttons or pom poms out for your preschooler to use.
From here, preschoolers can choose to make a pattern with the buttons or decorate the gingerbread people in any way they like.
Another option is to have them roll a die or flip numbered cards. Little ones place the number of buttons on the gingerbread person that matches the number on the die/card.
Gingerbread Play Dough
Make homemade playdough. Add warm gingerbread spices, such as nutmeg, cinnamon, and ginger, and work the spices into the dough.
Once the dough has cooled, let little ones use rolling pins and cookie cutters to make their own cookies.
Gingerbread Houses
Decorating gingerbread houses can be a fun memory with your little ones– as long as you take steps to ensure the sides don’t keep falling. 😉
If you aren’t planning on eating the gingerbread house, hot glue the sides and roof before setting up the gingerbread theme activity. The cooled hot glue is much sturdier than the icing in the kits.
Gingerbread Man Science
You can try putting the gingerbread man in different liquids to see why it was vital that he didn’t get wet in the river.
See what kinds of liquids (or solids) your preschooler wants to try. Involving them in the decision process gives them ownership over the experiment.
Discussing what happened and the connections between the other gingerbread men who participated in the experiment helps them draw conclusions.
Gingerbread Theme Scavenger Hunt
Hide cut-out gingerbread men that have different letters, shapes, or numbers written on them around the house. Once little ones find the gingerbread men, they can take them down and put them in a basket.
After collecting all the gingerbread men, preschoolers can arrange them in order (numbers and letters) or sort them by the shape written on them.
Letter Recognition with Gingerbread Men
If you created paper gingerbread men with letters already on them, you can reuse them for this activity.
Cut out gingerbread men from construction paper. Write a different letter on each of their bellies.
Mix the gingerbread men in a pan or sensory bin, or turn them over so the letter isn’t showing.
Let the preschooler pick a gingerbread man and read the letter on its belly.
You can take it further by having a sheet with all the letters. Have your little one cross off (or cover with a counter) the ones they uncover.
Gingerbread Writing Tray
Elevate your salt tray activities to fit your gingerbread theme. Mix 1 cup brown sugar with 1/2 cup flour and a few tablespoons of cinnamon (or a mix of cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg).
Place them in a pan with tall sides or a hard pencil case.
Let your child practice writing letters, shapes, and numbers using their finger, a chopstick, or even a candy cane.
Giant Gingerbread Man
Bring a gingerbread theme to life with a life-size gingerbread man like this!
Roll out brown butcher or craft paper. Have your preschooler lie down and trace around their body.
Let them decorate their life-size gingerbread man with crayons, markers, and other crafting supplies.
Preschool Gingerbread Unit
Making gingerbread men is, of course, a fantastic activity to add to your gingerbread theme. Add on some of these other ideas, and you will have your preschool gingerbread unit planned in no time.
