This is a varied version of the classic gingerbread man.  You could read both and compare or just read this one and enjoy.  Jan Brett draws beautiful illustrations with many details and clues of what’s to come.  This book encourages the reader to do good observations.

Materials

•             A bag of gingerbread cookies
•             2 bags of cotton balls
•             Gingerbread baby shape

Vocabulary

•             Worn-looking (old and kind of beat up from use)
•             Peek (look inside to see how what’s in there is doing)
•             Pranced (jump all around)
•             Delicious (yummy)
•             Smug (Feeling very proud of self)

Before Reading the Story

            Ask the children if they have ever helped to bake cookies?  What are some of the steps you have to do, where do you put the cookies to cook?   Say to the children let’s pretend to bake cookies.  First we have to get a great big bowl to put all the ingredients into.  Walk them through the steps from mixing in the bowl to putting on the tray, cooking in the oven, taking out of the oven, and putting them on the rack to cool.  Now let’s eat them, yummy.  Ask the children what kind of cookies they made?  Ask the children if they have ever eaten gingerbread?    Tell them that today’s story is about a gingerbread cookie.  Introduce the book.

Language Development/Listening & Understanding; demonstrates increasing ability to attend to and understand conversations, stories, songs, and poems. AND Creative Arts/Dramatic Play; participates in a variety of dramatic play activities that become more extended and complex.

Reading the Story

            When Matti opens the cookbook for a second time, ask the children what do you think he is looking for?  When Martha and Madeline tried to catch the gingerbread baby by the well, what do you think happened?  When Matti says he will catch the gingerbread baby, ask how do you think he will do this? When you get to the page where the fox is smacking his lips, ask the children if they think he will catch the gingerbread baby.  Note the side pages, ask the children what they think Matti is doing?

Literacy/Book Knowledge & Appreciation; demonstrates progress in abilities to retell and dictate stories from books and experiences; to act out stories in dramatic play; and to predict what will happen next in a story.

After Reading the Story

            How did the gingerbread baby get out of the oven?  Ask the children to see if they can remember the order of the characters in the story.  Who chased the gingerbaby first, second, third, next?

Literacy/Book Knowledge & Appreciation; demonstrates progress in abilities to retell and dictate stories from books and experiences; to act out stories in dramatic play; and to predict what will happen next in a story.

Discovery

            Let the children taste a gingerbread cookie.  Ask the children to describe how the cookie tastes, write their responses down.  Make a graph of those who like gingerbread and those who do not like gingerbread.

Mathematics/Patterns & Measurement; begins to use standard and non-standard measures. AND Science/Scientific Skills & Methods; begins to participate in simple investigations to test observations, discuss and draw conclusions, and form generalizations.

Music and Movement;\

            Do the Gingerbread Baby finger play.  Hold one hand out, palm up.  Use the other hand to be the gingerbread babies.  Start with 5 fingers laying on the palm and take one away with each verse.

Five little gingerbread men laying on the tray,

One jumped up and ran away.

Catch me, catch me, catch me if you can

I can run fast I’m the gingerbread man!

(Go down to one)

No more gingerbread men laying on the tray,

They all jumped up and ran away.

Next time I’ll eat them before they run away!

Mathematics/Number & Operations; begins to associate number concepts, vocabulary, quantities, and written numerals in meaningful ways.

Blocks

            Cut out a handful of gingerbread babies in various colors. Encourage the children to build homes for the gingerbread babies using the blocks.

Physical Health & Development/Fine Motor Skills; grows in hand-eye coordination in building with blocks, putting together puzzles, reproducing shapes and patterns, stringing beads, and using scissors.

Art

            Roll out play dough and use cookie cutters to make cookies. (Wood cylinder blocks work as rolling pins if your center has none).

Creative Arts/Dramatic Play; participates in a variety of dramatic play activities that become more extended and complex. AND Physical Health & Development/Fine Motor Skills; develops growing strength, dexterity, and control needed to use tools such as scissors, paper punch, stapler, and hammer.

            Have the children cut out the gingerbread baby shapes and let them decorate them however they choose.

Approaches to Learning/Initiative & Curiosity; develops increased ability to make independent choices.

Library and Writing

            Show the children how to make a simple home with a square and a triangle roof.  Let them use markers or colored pencils to decorate.  On the bottom of the page write, I’m the gingerbread baby who is lucky as can be because ______made a house just for me!

Mathematics/Geometry & Spatial Sense; progresses in ability to put together and take apart shapes. AND Physical Health & Development/Fine Motor Skills; progresses in abilities to use writing, drawing, and art tools, including, pencils, markers, chalk, paint brushes, and various technology.

Sand and Water

            Put small people in the table and cotton balls.  Show the children how to rip the cotton balls apart to make a winter scene.

Creative Arts/Dramatic Play; participates in a variety of dramatic play activities that become more extended and complex.

Dramatic Play

            Pretend to bake delicious things in the oven.

Creative Arts/ Dramatic Play; shows growing creativity and imagination in using materials and in assuming different roles in dramatic play situations.

Math and Manipulatives

            Cut out 10 gingerbread baby patterns that are about 6-inches tall and let the children use them to measure items in the room.  How many gingerbread babies tall are they, the table, the carpet?

Mathematics/Patterns & Measurement; shows progress in using standard and non-standard measures for length and area of objects.

Outdoor Play

            Tell the children that you are going to play gingerbread man.  The children can take on the different rolls and they can all run around one behind the other.  As the children run around sing out “Run, run as fast as you can, you can’t catch me I’m the gingerbread man!”.

Physical Health & Development/Health Status & Practices; participates actively in games, outdoor play, and other forms of exercise that enhance physical fitness.

Transitions

            As the children go to their next activity, give them directions on how to get there. (Kerry, hop, hop as fast as you can; Roger,  jump, jump as fast as you can; Tammie,tip toe, tip toe as fast as you can)

Language Development/Listening & Understanding; shows progress in understanding and following simple and multiple-step directions.

Resources