Gingerbread Week

While gingerbread is not necessarily my favorite flavor of cookie, I didn’t know there were so many learning and play opportunities surrounding the subject.  This week, after a long visit to the Big Apple, our learning topic was gingerbread men, houses… you name it!

Our learning activities were the following:

Upper/Lower letter Gingerbread Man Matching - - using printables from http://homeschoolcreations.com, H was encouraged match the upper and lower case letters.  We turned this into a card game; a go-fish for matching the letters.

Buttons on the Gingerbread Man– Using pom-poms and number cards, H was encouraged to identify the number and place the correct number of “pom pom buttons” on the gingerbread man. 

The letter G and F – We used letters from http://homeschoolcreations.com H traced the letters.  H was provided words starting with each letter to trace as well.

Identify the Letter – H was provided pictures with letters.  He sounded out the words and circled the letter the word started with. 

Size Sorting – H was provided different sized gingerbread men and asked to order them by size.

Games and Activities:

Gingerbread Man Puzzle – Pretty self-explanatory, but H loves puzzles.  This puzzle was easy enough for Ness to help with as well. 

Gingerbread Slime - Slime is a joy for both kids – I created the slime using the following:

In the first bowl:

-       1 cup of white school glue

-       ¾ cup of very warm water

-       Ground cinnamon and ginger spice to spice and color

In the second bowl:

-       ½ tsp of borax

-       ¾ cup of warm water

Mix both bowls together using your fingers!  You have to have a little fun too!

The kids added buttons, beads and glitter to the slime to create wiggly gingerbread men.  

Gingerbread Men Creating and Decorating – H is my little baker.  He loves to bake with me.  Inasmuch, he helped me make and bake the cookies.  Both kiddos frosted (Ness tasted) the cookies and decorated them.

Gingerbread Village – A special treat for H.  We put together and decorated gingerbread houses.

Fine Motor Gingerbread Men – Both kids used tweezers and fingers to put buttons, eyes, and decorations on gingerbread boys.    

Gingerbread House Walk – We bundled up; blankies, pj’s and all, warmed up some hot chocolate, and snuggled into the wagon for a trip to look at all of the “gingerbread houses” in our neighborhood. 

Art Projects

If I were a Gingerbread Man – I made cut out gingerbread men and their houses to live in.  The kids put stickers that most represented themselves (perhaps a stretch for Ness).  H (hard to believe) plastered his house and man with dinosaurs!  Rawr!

Gingerbread Man Coloring – I let the kids color gingerbread men and houses.  Color, color, color!

Books:

The Gingerbread Baby

The Gingerbread Man

Gingerbread Friends

Trips:

Santa at the Zoo - Just because it’s awesome and the kid’s love watching the animals receive presents!  H was over the moon about the horses getting apples in their present.

In this crazy time of year, I really enjoy taking the time to create special events, time, and activities for the little ones.  Realistically, I know they won’t remember these activities, but I sure will.  I cherish them.