Gingerbread Man -- Preschool & Kindergarten

Gingerbread Man

Run, run as fast as you can!
You can't catch me,
I'm the Gingerbread Man!

Fingerplays/Songs

Countdown

We count to 8 to coincide with The Gingerbread Baby
At 8 I ask each child if their gingerbread baby is eaten or did he run away. Contributed by: Jackie Foster

Gingerkids
(tune: "10 Little Indians")

One little, two little, three little gingerkids.
Four little, five little, six little gingerkids.
Seven little, eight little, nine little gingerkids.
Ten little gingerbread kids

Who stole the cookies from the cookie jar?

Who stole the cookies from the cookie jar?
child's name stole the cookies from the cookie jar!
Who, me?
Yes, you!
Couldn't be!
Then who?

Note: This is a good poem to use in your Pocket Chart. Write the poem on sentence strips, leaving a blank where the person's name goes. Make a set of names (include the adults name too) for the children to use in reading the chart.

5 Gingerbread Men
(Use the left hand open, palm up, as the tray, and lay the other fingers on the tray until each runs away)

Five little gingerbread men lying on a tray,
One jumped up and ran away.
Shouting "Catch me, catch me, catch me if you can
I run really fast, I'm a gingerbread man!"

Four little gingerbread men lying on a tray,
One jumped up and ran away.
Shouting "Catch me, catch me, catch me if you can
I run really fast, I'm a gingerbread man!"

Three little gingerbread men lying on a tray,
One jumped up and ran away.
Shouting "Catch me, catch me, catch me if you can
I run really fast, I'm a gingerbread man!"

Two little gingerbread men lying on a tray,
One jumped up and ran away.
Shouting "Catch me, catch me, catch me if you can
I run really fast, I'm a gingerbread man!"

One little gingerbread man lying on a tray,
He jumped up and ran away.
Shouting "Catch me, catch me, catch me if you can
I run really fast, I'm a gingerbread man!"

No more gingerbread men lying on a tray,
They all jumped up and ran away.
Oh, how I wish they had stayed with me to play.
Next time I'll eat them before they run away.

Art

Gingerbread Person Outline

Gingerbread Man Decoration Ideas

The children can apply glue to the whole shape, then decorate with the ginger, spice, cinnamon etc (this works very well if the spices are placed in little shakers, eg glitter shakers). Use the peppercorns and mustard seeds etc for buttons, eyes, nose, mouth etc.

This activity is a wonderfully sensory one: the smell of ginger, spice and cinnamon really appeals. Staple the finished gingerbread men to the wall, out of reach, as the spices and peppercorns can tend to come off if touched by little fingers. Dried herbs, paprika etc can also be used: these add a richness of colour and smell.
Contributed By: Marion

Gingerbread Man - Scissor Practice

Children cut brown contruction paper into small pieces and glue onto the Gingerbread Person Outline. Two colors of brown construction paper can be used to create a mosaic Gingerbread Man. Children use construction paper scraps of different color for the face and buttons.

Paper Plate Gingerbread Man

Gingerbread Man & House using puffy paint at Teach Preschool

Gingerbread Man Collage Art

Gingerbread Kids
Need: Bulletin Board Paper or other large paper, construction paper

We made life-sized gingerbread kids in our class. I traced each child and then cut out. I supplied the children with pre-cut circles in red, green and black construction paper and pre-cut bows made from red and green construction paper. I also gave them pre-cut strips of green and red paper to make a belt. Other materials include glue and crayons.

The children used the black circles to make facial features. They glued a bow tie on the neck. They used the green and red pre-cut circles for buttons and the strips of red and green construction paper for belts. Then they colored and decorated the rest of the gingerkid with crayons.

They came out SOOO cute and we displayed them holding hands along our wall. It's a great activity to reinforce our colors of the month (red and green), shapes (circle), fine motor (gluing and coloring) and creativity. They had a blast doing it and it was so easy.
Contributed By: Bridget

Sandpaper Gingerbread Man

Using sandpaper, cut out a gingerbread man for each child. Direct the children to rub a cinnamon stick over the sandpaper Gingerbread Man over and over.

Place food coloring in your glue bottles to color your glue. Make icing from colored glue. Or decorate with college materials (wiggle eyes, buttons, pom poms, fabric paint, rick-rack, etc). Attach a ribbon to hang as an ornament.

Gingerbread Man Bulletin Board

Cut out a brown 81/2 inch by 11 inch gingerbread man for each child. Have the children decorate their Gingerbread Boy or Girl using a variety of college materials (ribbon, buttons, fabric, glitter, etc). You can attach the pattern to cardboard to give it extra strength.

On your bulletin board make a large paper Gingerbread house. Display the Gingerbread People on the bulletin board around the Gingerbread house.

Math

Cookie Bite Graph
If you give the children gingerbread cookies, let them take one bite then STOP! Have them come up to a graph you have made and place their name or a mark under what part they ate first (head, right foot or arm, left foot or arm, etc).

Gingerbread Man color by number