1. PREP MATERIALS

I like to use large construction paper for this craft (12 X18), because you do end up trimming some of the sides, and you do want them to have the option to actually fit their plate and utensils on it. 

Choose the colors you would like to use. I used orange as the base color and yellow as the strips.

Cut slices into the orange base color, and then cut yellow strips.

Gather your paint and paintbrushes. You will need brown and red paint. I recommend Crayola Tempura Washable Paint (grab the brown paint here and the red paint here). Have a black marker handy to draw the eye, legs, and students name. You will also need a glue stick for any loose pieces on the edges.

2. CHOOSE YOUR SMALL GROUPS

This activity works best with small groups because it can be quiet challenging and does require a lot of modeling. This is a great craft for working on fine motor skills, and it definitely requires focus and thinking. That being said, the children do love this craft.

Model how to weave the yellow strips in and out of the orange base. If you need a refresher on paper weaving you can do a quick youtube search. There are some great videos that model it for you.

Let the kiddies weave the yellow into the orange.

Apply some glue from behind to the edges to keep the strips in place.

Let the paint dry. Then using a black marker, have the kids draw legs, add an eye, and write their name across the top. Add a beak and wattle (that red thing that hangs from their neck is a wattle!) with a marker as well. 

4. Laminate

Once everyone has completed their placemats laminate them so that they are durable and children can use them!

This is a great craft and one that children and parents love. It makes for a great keepsake as well! 

I hope you enjoy it!

Don’t forget to pin this image below so you can return to this post anytime you need!

**MATERIALS NEEDED**

It’s a gingerbread cookie made into a girl, with licorice whip hair. Need I say more? This is such a fun alternative to all the boys we read about.

Maybe I love this story because I’m a New Yorker, but reading about the Gingerbread Boy running around the city is one of my favorite things! Instead of being chased by cows and a fox, he is being chased by construction workers and people waiting for the subway!

This book is a great way to incorporate some fun social studies lessons. There are no farmers or cows, but Harriet Tubman and Abraham Lincoln do try to catch this cookie!

This gingerbread tale takes place in the desert, with coyotes and javelinas! It provides for a great lesson on comparing and contrasting story setting.

This is always a fan favorite because the kids can relate to the setting and characters involved. It is also a perfect way to add a gingerbread scavenger hunt to your day.

In this funny tale, the cookies are pirates and decide to stand up to the infamous cookie eating man named Santa!

In this tale, the plot is very similar but the character is a bear and the setting is Woodland National Park.

And last but not least, everyone needs a traditional Gingerbread Man story in their classroom!

I hope your class enjoys these as much as I do! If you’re looking for some companion worksheets and other fun gingerbread activities, check out my 102 page Gingerbread Man Unit Here

           

       

             

          

Writing Activities

I then take their project and turn it into the cutest bulletin board ever (I mean c’mon)

Scavenger Hunt

To close out the unit we go on a Gingerbread Man Scavenger Hunt. This time, the Gingerbread Man plants a bigger note in the room and it directs us to a different location in the building…each clue takes us to a different room. While we are out collecting our clues I have a co-worker take the cake I make the night before and place it in our room with the final clue. Eventually our scavenger hunt will lead us back there. When we return to our room there is a delicious gingerbread man cake waiting for us to eat! The kids scream like lunatics! They think we actually caught the Gingerbread Man! I got this great idea from one of my old co-workers, Debbie Finkel. She is an amazing kindergarten teacher and I am so glad I had the opportunity to work with her.

I got my gingerbread man cake mold from Amazon.  If you don’t want to make a cake you could always just buy gingerbread cookies and have them displayed for the kids!