If you are new to this blog, WELCOME! Each Wednesday throughout the year, we partner with the #TeachECE team to offer activity suggestions centered around a weekly theme. This week, come play to learn with us as we explore a NURSERY RHYMES theme!
There are few things as captivating for preschoolers as a COOKIE that leaps from a baking sheet and RUNS AWAY! The Gingerbread Man Rhyme and Candy House Craft are FUN activities to extend the adventures of the bold little cookie with your own preschoolers at home or in the classroom!
Gingerbread Man Rhyme and Candy House Craft for Preschoolers!
Disclaimer: This post and others within this blog contain distributor and/or affiliate links. Please see the ABOUT page for full disclosures.
Preschoolers LOVE the story of The Gingerbread Man! Read the book and invite kids to share the main events of the story. The Gingerbread Man rhyming chant and candy house craft are great ways to extend the story and promote early literacy, name recognition, and fine motor skills.
Materials needed:
- One printable Gingerbread Man Rhyme and Candy House per student/craft
- Various collage materials – suggestions: fabric scraps, ribbon, real candy, construction paper, candy stickers, marshmallows, pom-poms, buttons, or any other materials readily available at home or in the classroom.
- Liquid Glue, Poster Putty, and/or Glue Dots.
- Scissors
- Crayons or Markers
Print one copy of the Gingerbread Man Rhyme for each student. The kids can write or stamp their names on the line provided. Read the rhyme several times to the kids (insert a different child’s name each time) and ask them to say the rhyme with you.
“I’m the GINGERBREAD MAN as DELICIOUS as can be! I live in a CANDY HOUSE that __________(insert a child’s name) built for ME!”
The kids will love hearing their names and will even ask to put parents or teachers names into the rhyme!
Set out a variety of collage materials/candies/stickers and invite the kids to decorate their candy houses as they wish! The gingerbread man houses make great bulletin board displays for the holidays. They also make great class books when finished. The children will love looking for their name and created house. These are truly child-designed crafts that are so FUN!
Extension: Teach the children the Gingerbread Man Song below.
Gingerbread Man Song (Tune: Do you know the Muffin Man)
Oh, do you know the Gingerbread Man, the Gingerbread Man, the Gingerbread Man?
Oh, do you know the Gingerbread Man, who ran and ran and ran?
He said, “Catch me if you can. If you can, if you can.”
He said, “Catch me if you can,” then ran and ran and ran.
I can run like the Gingerbread Man, the Gingerbread Man, the Gingerbread Man.
I can run like the Gingerbread Man, now catch me if you can!
~Author Unknown
For an entire Gingerbread Theme, please see the Gingerbread Thematic Unit for Preschool and Kindergarten here on the blog.
Gingerbread Man Activities your kids might also enjoy:
Gingerbread Crafts, Math, and Pre-Writing Lines FREE Printable
Free Printable Gingerbread Man Alphabet/Pictures for Literacy Games
For MORE ways to engage kids in playful learning with NURSERY RHYMES, please visit the links from the Early Childhood Educational Team below:
The Three Little Kittens Rhyming Mittens by Growing Book by Book
Printable Preschool Nursery Rhymes Journal by Fun-a-Day
Cow Jumped Over the Moon Craft by Still Playing School
I Wish I May I Wish I Might – Star Headband by Capri + 3
Old MacDonald’s Farm Sensory Bin by Tiny Tots Adventures
Nursery Rhyme Sorting Activity by Munchkins and Moms
I LOVE all the Gingerbread ideas!
Our kids love the Gingerbread Man story. I love all of the songs and activities you have to go with it. The house and rhyme are really cute!
We adore gingerbread activities. This looks like a fun one for us to try this year.