Several mornings a week, I do a little preschool-at-home routine with my 4 and 2 year olds.
It’s really nice to have a little bit of structured, fun activity time each morning to look forward to. (You can check out the printable preschool planner I use here.)
To keep things interesting, we like to explore a different theme each week. Now that it’s the Christmas season, and since my daughter is obsessed with the Gingerbread Man story, we decided to check out some gingerbread man preschool activities!
Our preschool-at-home routine
Each day during the week, we follow the same basic routine:
- We start with music (a song, dance, or rhyme with motions)
- Then we read a story
- Do a craft
- End with an extra activity (usually movement or play-based)
It’s nothing too complicated, but we have so much fun that I wanted to share our plans with you. The activities you’ll find here are each tested and approved- mostly by my 4 year old- but sometimes by my 7 and 2 year olds as well. 😉
Download the plans here
You’ll get an overview page with links to all the videos, books, crafts, and activities for this unit, along with a supply list for the week.
Note: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This post contains affiliate links, meaning that if you choose to click through and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Planning for the week
Before we jump into it, here are 3 things for you to do before you start your gingerbread man preschool unit:
- Check out 5 Gingerbread Man books from the library. Or buy them on Amazon if you’d rather have them shipped right to your home. 🙂 If you’re not sure which books to get, check out the ones I recommend in the supply list.
- Browse the supply list. Make note of anything you want to use that you don’t already have at home. Add them to your shopping list or buy them on Amazon now.
- Print out the craft templates that you’ll need. All the links are on the supply list.
That’s it! If you do these 3 things now, you’ll be ready to go. 
Gingerbread Music & Movement
Each day we started our preschool time with some music. I picked 3 songs or dances, and we repeat them throughout the week.
Gingerbread men: An action rhyme for kids
The Gingerbread Cookie Dance
Cookie Boogie
The Gingerbread Man Stories
There are so many different, fun versions of the Gingerbread Man, but here are the 5 that we decided to use this week:
The Gingerbread Boy, by Richard Egielski
| Preview | Product | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
The Gingerbread Boy: A Christmas Holiday… |
$7.99 |
Buy on Amazon |
Gingerbread Baby, Gingerbread Friends, and/or Gingerbread Christmas, by Jan Brett
| Preview | Product | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Gingerbread Friends | $7.99 | Buy on Amazon |
|
Gingerbread Baby | $8.99 | Buy on Amazon |
|
Gingerbread Christmas | $7.99 | Buy on Amazon |
Catch that Cookie! by Hallie Durand
| Preview | Product | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Catch That Cookie |
$31.63 |
Buy on Amazon |
The Gingerbread Girl, by Lisa Campbell Ernst
| Preview | Product | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
The Gingerbread Girl |
$10.06 |
Buy on Amazon |
The Library Gingerbread Man, by Dotti Enderle
| Preview | Product | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
The Library Gingerbread Man | $17.85 | Buy on Amazon |
The ultimate preschool planner
Dozens of colorful planner pages to help you stay organized as you teach preschool at home:
- 4 different planning page options
- Weekly theme planner
- Schedule planner
- Evening, morning, and preschool routine planner
- To do list, library check-out list, supply list, notes page
- 2 choices of calendar pages
Gingerbread Man Crafts
Here are the crafts that we decided to do this week:
Gingerbread man story puppets
It’s fun to make these puppets first thing in the week because your little one can play with them while you’re reading all your stories during the rest of the week.
Draw a gingerbread house
We love art hub for kids. It’s a youtube channel with easy, follow-along drawing tutorials. This one is perfect for a gingerbread unit!
Gingerbread girl headband
Isn’t this cute? My kids love making different headbands, and will wear them all day long after they make them.
Gingerbread path game
To play this simple game, just roll a dice and move your playing piece along the path. (We used a gumdrop!) It’s great counting practice.
Gingerbread Man Lacing
Just print out this gingerbread man, hole punch along the edges, and show your little one how to lace it up using a piece of yarn or shoelace.
Gingerbread Man Activities
Make gingerbread men
We decided to make sugar cookies, and cut them into gingerbread man shapes. But if you want to make actual gingerbread cookies, this recipe looks fantastic!
Make gingerbread men out of play-doh
This activity is so simple, but my kids love it! I just give them a gingerbread man cookie cutter, a rolling pin, and some play-doh. My kids loved using their play kitchen and oven to act out the story.
Gingerbread cut-n-paste
This is a cute little book where kids can practice matching jobs to pictures (with a little help.)
Gingerbread letter hunt
You can print out these cute cards, or write your own letters on scraps of paper. Then hide them around your house and see if your kids can find them. My kids absolutely love this game.
Fruit loop graph
This printable has two parts: First, the kids decorate their gingerbread house with Fruit Loops. Then they graph their cereal by color. So cute!
Have fun doing your own gingerbread preschool unit. Thanks for reading!
-Laura
Pin Gingerbread Man Preschool Activities
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