December is filled with fun learning activities in the classroom. The first week of December I always teach our Gingerbread unit! We spend the whole week reading gingerbread books, doing gingerbread math and literacy centers, making gingerbread crafts, and all things gingerbread. It’s safe to say that this is a favorite week in my classroom! If you’re going to be planning some gingerbread fun in your room, you’re in the right place! Today I’m sharing some fun freebies I know you’ll love.
Using Gingerbread Activities in the Classroom
So why gingerbread? Well, it’s fun of course! December is an exciting month and a gingerbread theme is one of my favorites! There are so many great books to use alongside your lessons and really, what’s more fun than cookies?! I love that this theme has a holiday vibe without actually being about the holidays too. This makes it the perfect theme to use if your school does not allow for holiday-specific activities or if you have a student in your class that doesn’t celebrate holidays. Plus, there are so many ways to weave gingerbread math and literacy activities into your lessons.
We use my FREE Gingerbread Math and Literacy Activities pack to keep the fun rolling. This pack has 5 different activities that you can use in your math and literacy centers in December. They can be played independently or with a partner. These would also be great to use in your guided math or literacy groups. Students can use mini erasers or any other small manipulative for each activity in this pack. I like to use holiday-themed ones to make these activities even more engaging.
5 Gingerbread Freebies for Math and Literacy Fun!
1. Count and Cover
For this activity, students will pick a mat and a set of small counters or manipulatives to use. They will look at each number on the mat and count out that many manipulatives to place in each box. It’s the perfect activity for practicing one-to-one correspondence and counting sets.
I like to use mini erasers since you can fit quite a few of them in each box. But snap cubes or other small manipulatives work well too. I also recommend laminating the mats so that you can use them over and over again.
Just place the prepped mats in a tub along with the manipulative of your choice and you’re ready to go! This would be a great morning work or center activity since students can easily be independent with it.
2. Gingerbread Tens Frames
Next up tens frames! This is something we work on quite a bit in my room. To use this activity, students will pick a ten-frame mat and a set of small counters. They will look at the number on the mat and using the counters, show that number on the ten frame.
I like to have my kids work through all the included mats for numbers 1-10. I laminate the mats and then have my kids sit down in a center to work on this activity. They can take turns with each mat and even swap out their counters as they work to keep things interesting. You might also consider having them trace the number with their fingers or a dry-erase marker as well.
3. Gingerbread Letter Mats
Letter identification and letter formation are other skills we’re always working on in kindergarten. These Gingerbread Letter Mats make it super simple to practice identifying and building letters. Students will pick a letter mat and a set of small counters. They will create each letter as they fill the inside of the letter with the counters. I use mini erasers but buttons, small stickers or even wikki sticks work well too.
You can also use playdough for these mats as well if you’d like to have the students build the letters that way. Gingerbread-scented playdough would add more thematic sensory input too! This activity is great for center time since it encourages hands-on learning and independence. You might even consider having students write each letter they build in a journal or on a piece of paper as well.
4. Gingerbread Addition
My kids can always use some more practice with addition. This next activity makes it fun and easy! Students will get the addition mat and a set of counters. They will roll a dice and place that number of counters in the first house. They will roll again and place that number of counters in the second house. Students will then write an addition sentence to show how many counters they have.
I love this activity because it’s multi-step. More than one step helps my kids slow down and focus – something my kindergarten students are always working on! This mat is great for your math center and can be used over and over again for additional practice.
5. Patterning
Last on this list of math and literacy freebies, it’s time to practice patterns! In this activity, students will get a set of three different types of counters. Students will look at the type of pattern on the side of each row and use the counters to create that pattern. This activity is one of my students’ favorites and requires their full attention.
If you’re just getting started teaching patterns, consider using these mats in your small group to help model and practice. If your kids have worked with patterns already, these would be a fantastic independent center time option.
You can use manipulatives like the gingerbread man erasers shown in the picture or you can let students color in the boxes to create their pattern.
Using these Free Gingerbread Math and Literacy Activities
You can grab all of these activities to use in your classroom. Whether you are planning a full gingerbread unit or just need some holiday-ish activities, you can’t go wrong with these activities. All of the activities were created with kindergarten students in mind and review skills and concepts that are traditionally taught in the first months of the year.
To get your free gingerbread resources just fill in the form below and I’ll send them straight to your inbox!
Then, all you need to do is print, laminate if you choose, and you’re ready to go! It’s that easy!
More Gingerbread Fun
Want to take a closer look at all of the fun activities we use during Gingerbread Week? Be sure to read this post next for all of the details!
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