Gingerbread Activities For Preschool Classroom
Posted: Wednesday, December 09, 2009
by Stephany Springer
Gingerbread is such a fun theme for Christmas in the preschool classroom. The smell alone can delight any preschooler.
It is fun to take a day or two to celebrate the theme of gingerbread to really get their senses going. Here are a few activities for a center-driven preschool classroom using gingerbread as the theme.
Art Time
Another variation is to take brown butcher paper and outline each child. Then have them draw in their own hair and clothes. Roll the finished project out in the hallway for parents to admire their own gingerbread children.
Sandpaper rubbings-Cut out a gingerbread man shape out of sandpaper. Let the kids rub a brown crown on typing paper that is taped over it. Another variation is to Pre-cut a gingerbread man shape from rough sandpaper. Draw on facial features and buttons using marker. The kids can glue this onto construction paper of their choice. Then they "color" their gingerbread man with a cinnamon stick. They can taste the cinnamon if they wish before coloring with it. They can smell the cinnamon, and hear the way it scratches on the sandpaper. They can see the difference in color when they rub the cinnamon stick on the sandpaper, and they can feel the difference between the smooth construction paper and the rough sandpaper.
Snack Time
Gingerbread recipe
2 T ginger
1 T cinnamon
1 egg
3 Cups flour
¾ cup sweet butter
¼ t salt
½ cup molasses
¾ cup brown sugar
1 T baking soda
¼ T nutmeg
¼ T cloves
Mix all the ingredients. This can be done as a class or before time. Roll out the dough-a little for each child. Let them cut out a gingerbread man and place on cookie sheet. Bake in 375 degrees oven for eight minutes. Let cool then decorate. The kids will love this project. You can let them cook or just decorate.
Gingerbread house-This can also be a fun activity during snack time. You can let the kids make their own using craft sticks with icing and graham crackers or make a class one to display.
Story time
The Gingerbread Man is probably the most classic story of all time. A second great story that warms my heart is The Gingerbread Girl by Lisa Campbell Ernst. Also Jan Brett, an awesome winter writer, has the book Gingerbread Friends which is very heartwarming and has beautiful pictures.
Homeliving
Pull out the cooking aprons and chef hats. Get the spatulas and cookie sheets. Allow the kids to pretend to cook cookies.
Sensory table
Dump a bag of flour and a quarter cup of ginger and cinnamon in to ignite their senses. Allow them to whisk, stir, etc.
Songs
To the tune of “Do You Know The Muffin Man"
Oh do you know the gingerbread man, the gingerbread man, the gingerbread man.
OH do you know the gingerbread man who ran and ran and ran.
He said "catch me if you can, if you can, if you can, He said "catch me if you can" then ran and ran and ran. I can run like the gingerbread man, the gingerbread man the gingerbread man. I can run like the gingerbread man Now catch me if you can.
To the Tune of Frere Jacques
Gingerbread, gingerbread,?Yum, yum, yum, Yum, yum, yum.?I like gingerbread, I like gingerbread,?In my tum, In my tum
Blocks
Pull out the toy animals and people and let the kids recreate the story. Be sure to have the fox and allow the kids to build a block house.
Scavenger hunt
Place clues from the gingerbread man around the school. Have the children read (use pictures) and search for the clues. At the end, have a gingerbread snack waiting for them.
These are just a few suggestions. Feel free to leave your own classroom ideas in the comment section below. Enjoy the unit!
This Article has been viewed 1,322 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
No comments yet.We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.