Who else LOVES using thematic teaching?! I know I do! In kindergarten, it’s especially helpful to use themes as a way to snag student attention and maintain engagement in learning. In the winter, I love using a gingerbread theme in our classroom to work on important math and literacy skills in a fun, new way. Today I’m sharing my favorite gingerbread activities for kindergarten!
Gingerbread Books
If you know me, you know I love great children’s books! I’m a big fan of starting out any new topic of study with books. When it comes to gingerbread, there are so many great stories to read. The classic folktale of The Gingerbread Man is a must but beyond that, there are so many other fun books that fit this theme. Here are a few of my favorites:
- The Gingerbread Man by Karen Schmidt
- The Gingerbread Man by Catherine McCafferty
- The Gingerbread Girl by Lisa Ernst
- The Gingerbread Cowboy by Janet Squires
- How to Catch a Gingerbread Man by Adam Wallace
- Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett
- Gingerbread Mouse by Katy Bratun
- The Gingerbread Man Loose in the School by Laura Murray
- The Gingerbread Man Loose at Christmas by Laura Murray
Any of these books is a great place to start when you begin your gingerbread activities. I love reading a few books each day and then chatting with kiddos about the similarities and differences they noticed between the books. Sometimes, we’ll make anchor charts that list character traits in the books, describe the scenery and retell the story. I’ve found that taking the time to talk with students about the stories is a great way to prep them for our gingerbread activities that follow.
Gingerbread Lapbooks
When it comes to thematic teaching, you might already know about my deep love for lapbooks, also called “Flippy Flaps”.
These smaller-sized, interactive notebooks are the perfect way to work on various activities tied to one central theme. We always make lapbooks for our gingerbread activities to help students corral all of their projects and lessons into one spot.
If you’ve never made lapbooks with your students before, be sure to check out this post. It gives a detailed overview of what lapbooks are, how to use them, and why they are so great for little learners!
We use lapbook activities as a whole class, during small groups as well as during centers. No matter how you choose to use them in your classroom, you’ll love how much your students learn with these fun activities!
Gingerbread Writing Activities
Writing activities always seem to make up most of the content when we start building our gingerbread lapbooks. There are so many ways to tie writing into a gingerbread theme. Some of our favorites include:
- Gingerbread KWL Chart
- Gingerbread Has/Can/Is
- Gingerbread Story Retelling
- Gingerbread Writing Prompts
- Gingerbread Story Comparing (comparing the gingerbread man, boy, girl, baby & cowboy)
I like to have students work on these gingerbread writing activities during small groups so that we can spend plenty of time discussing what each of them chose to include in their writing prompts. I especially love to use the story-comparing activities after we’ve had a chance to read all the books. Since we made anchor charts during circle time, it’s typically pretty easy for kiddos to recall what they learned from each story. This is a really fun, hands-on way to test comprehension among your group!
Gingerbread Sequencing, Graphing, and More!
While writing activities make up a big part of our lapbooks, there are so many more fun things you can include. I personally love to use a variety of sequencing activities that help my kindergarten students recall stories and put things in order. For the gingerbread theme these activities include:
- How To Make a Gingerbread House Sequencing: Children will color, cut, and glue gingerbread house pictures and then place them in order to show how to build the house from start to finish.
- How To Make a Gingerbread Man Sequencing: Similar to the house activity, kiddos will color, cut, and glue pieces to show the proper order of tasks to make a gingerbread man.
- Story Retelling Pictures: This activity includes pictures of the classic Gingerbread Man folktale. Students will color the pieces and then use them to retell the story on their own. This is a really fun activity for students to do with a partner. Each child will take a turn telling their own rendition of the story.
- Gingerbread Class Graph: This is a fun activity for your whole group that asks students to consider which part of a gingerbread cookie they’d like to taste first (head/leg/arm). After the kiddos make their pick, they can graph their response and color a square for the response of their peers as well.
After the kiddos have completed their work, we spend time coloring the cover decorations and gluing everything down to each lapbook. During the holidays it can be especially fun to include extras like glitter, sequins, ribbon, and stickers for children to use to decorate their lapbooks.
Once students are finished, you’ll have a visual record of all that they learned and the perfect holiday keepsake!
The best part about lapbooks is that you get to decide which activities are best to include for your group. Beyond these activities are so many more that you could include in your lessons! Check out all the options I rotate between in my printable Gingerbread Lapbooks. I also use a digital version from time to time for whole group activities as well as homework assignments for kiddos who were out sick.
Gingerbread Boom Cards
Aside from lapbooks, I love using other digital activities, like Boom Cards in the classroom. Boom Cards work really well for centers and independent learning stations while I am focused on a small group activity. When it comes to gingerbread activities, I use Boom Cards for both math and literacy activities.
These CVC Word Boom Cards are perfect for kindergarten students. These cards focus on common CVC words and ask children to work on building the letters through the interactive, game-like format.
My students love Boom Cards and I love that they can be fully independent. Since these cards feature audio, I can rest easy knowing my non-readers will still be able to solve each card on their own.
For math practice, we use these Gingerbread Number Order Boom Cards. Students love the festive, holiday theme on the cards and they are a great way to get plenty of practice with ordering numbers. Boom Cards are a must if you’re looking for a way to add more opportunities for engaging skills practice without any extra prep! These self-correcting task cards are always a student favorite and will help round out your gingerbread activities!
Free Gingerbread Activities For You!
I hope you’re looking forward to planning some gingerbread-themed lessons for your classroom! This theme is so much fun and a great way to grab the attention of your little learners through the holiday season. To help jumpstart your planning, I’m sharing a jam-packed Gingerbread Math and Literacy FREEBIE!
To grab this 45-page Gingerbread Activities Freebie, enter your information below. The activities will be sent directly to your inbox so you can get started right away!
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