G is for The Gingerbread Man: Library Notes

Ladybird First Favourite Tales, The Gingerbread Man is the choice for today because gingerbread men are a classic part of Christmas. After talking about E is for Eating, I am sure you are hungry! In this book there is a hungry baker and his wife, a boy, a cow, a horse and a clever fox  As in other stories, there is a problem that needs a solution. The fox offers the solution that the gingerbread thinks will help him but actually he is being deceived. This is a classic fairytale that has a tale to tell!  

🏃Art:  To accompany this book you can have a cookie decorating party.  You can also find foam gingerbread men and use markers, paint, stickers, sparkles and more to decorate them.

🏃Drama: You can use the plain gingerbread men to act out the story. Maybe even come to a 'river' which can be a puddle or the bathroom sink and question "How he can cross it without getting wet?" 

🏃Gross Motor: Maybe you can include a game of chase where you "run, run as fast as you can".  The ideal game is to actually be the one to move away from the child and ask them to run TO you or to chase you as not all children will stop once they start running away from you. (A word to the wise).

🏃Sensory: Consider a sensory activity with cinnamon, ginger and peppermint and guess the smell.  You can also roll cinnamon playdough cutouts of men in coloured sugar as part of a sensory experience. Actually eating a gingerbread cookie is also a sensory experience you may enjoy with your child(ren).

🏃Science: For science you can build the gingerbread house.  You could also use toothpicks and jubejubes to create various structures. Perhaps you could put a gingerbread man in water to see what would happen were he to have fallen into the river and gotten wet. Experiment to find out if the same thing happens to other objects or not (have a variety of items).  Hypothesize as to why that occurs.

🏃Math:  You can count the steps the gingerbread man takes or the spaces on the game board Candyland. Perhaps you can do a chart to record who is the fastest in the class and most likely to catch the gingerbread man.

🏃Literacy Skills:  Counting out the syllables to 'gin-ger-bread-man' can set up an activity about syllables. The key phrase can be used to  help people participate by filling in familiar words and phrases. Repeated listing of who is chasing the gingerbread man lets you build a list of names to remember (baker and his wife, boy, cow, horse, fox) and builds a child's vocabulary along the way. 

There is always so much a book has to offer.  These are a few suggestions. My favourite is to decorate the cookie then eat it! Yum!