This post may contain affiliate links. You pay the same and I get a small commission
Christmas is a great time to talk about the Gingerbread Man. This is such a fun story and lends itself well to talking about how to make the cookie, animals, sequence of events, shapes, sense, counting and colors. My favorite activity is to hide Gingerbread men all over the classroom for the children to find. Each child gets to find one Gingerbread man and keep it.
A Gingerbread Poem
What do you feel? The cookie dough.
It’s smooth and soft to touch.
Cool and squishy in my hands;
I like it very much!
What do you hear?
The rolling pin.
It’s rolling out the dough.
”
Rrr-rrr” goes the rolling pin,
A-rolling to and fro.
What do you smell?
A spicy scent.
It’s filling up the room.
Sweet and strong, it smells so good-
Much better than perfume.
What do you see?
A fresh-bakced treat. Its color is just right:
What a lovely golden brown!
A very pretty sight!
What do you taste?
The gingerbread!
A spicy treat or two.
Sweet and yummy in my mouth;
Now I’ll share some with you!
______________________________________________
Gingerbread Boy / Girl
I’m a little gingerbread boy. (Boys bow.)
I’m a little gingerbread boy. (Boys bow.)
I’m a little gingerbread girl. (Girls bow.)
I can jump, (All jump.)
And I can twirl. (All turn around.)
I have raisins (Point to eyes.) For my eyes,
I have raisins (Point to eyes.) For my eyes,
And bright red buttons (Point to buttons down chest.) Just this size.
I have a mouth, It looks like this. (Point to smiling mouth.)
I have a mouth, It looks like this. (Point to smiling mouth.)
I can even Blow a kiss. (Blow a kiss.)
I’m warm and tasty, But don’t eat me. (Shake head.)
I’m warm and tasty, But don’t eat me. (Shake head.)
I’ll run away (pretend to run) Hee, Hee, Hee
_____________________________________________________
Gingerbread Colors
I’m a gingerbread man And I can think
I’m a ginger bread man My color is pink.
I’m a gingerbread man And I can think
I’m a ginger bread man My color is pink.
I’m a gingerbread man And I smile, not frown
I’m a ginger bread man My color is brown.
I’m a gingerbread man And I’m looking at you
I’m a ginger bread man My color is blue.
I’m a gingerbread man That’s what I said
I’m a ginger bread man My color is red.
I’m a gingerbread man And I’ll be right back
I’m a ginger bread man My color is black.
I’m a gingerbread man And I say borange
I’m a ginger bread man My color is orange.
I’m a gingerbread man And milk I slurple
I’m a ginger bread man My color is purple.
I’m a gingerbread man And I’m a real nice fellow
I’m a ginger bread man My color is yellow.
Use this when you sing the song:
Google Docs: Gingerbread Men
_______________________________________________
Gingerbread Shape Sung to “The Wheels on the Bus”
The gingerbread man needs two eyes,
Needs two eyes, needs two eyes,
The gingerbread man needs two eyes
So pick out a shape.
Substitute ‘two eyes’ for ‘one nose’, ‘one mouth’ and ‘three buttons’
I use a big paper gingerbread man and have the children pick out different shapes I made out of foam to create the eyes, nose, mouth and buttons.
Google Docs: Gingerbread Man
_____________________________________________
Gingerbread Men
Five little gingerbread men lying on a tray
(Lay five fingers on the palm of the other hand)
One jumped up and ran away.
(Raise one finger up then run in place)
Singing “Catch me, catch me, Catch me if you can
(Wave fingers next to head)
I run really fast I’m the gingerbread man”
(Pretend to run and then point to self)
Repeat counting down.
Idea #1: Have the students represent the gingerbread man, popping up and running away.
Idea #2: Start with a bigger number and subtract as many men as you like to work on subtraction.
________________________________________
The Gingerbread Man Runs Through the Town Sung to “Wheels on the Bus”
The gingerbread man ran through the town,
Through the town, through the town
The gingerbread man ran through the town.
Singing “You’ll never catch me.”
He ran away from the cow
From the cow, from the cow
He ran away from the cow
Singing “You’ll never catch me.”
Keep going with different animals he ran away from: dog, pig, sheep, horse . .
Then he came to a fox,
To a fox, to a fox
Then he came to a fox
Singing “You’ll never catch me”
The fox said “You can trust me”
“You can trust me”, “You can trust me”
The fox said “You can trust me”
Then he ate him yes sir – ee
Idea #1: Use Christmas character in the story to chase the gingerbred man: Elves, reindeer, snowman, angels, Santa, etc . . .
