What is the Gingerbread Man Project?

Welcome! I am Sheena Wheeler the content manager at Pre-K Printable Fun, and your Hostess for this event!
Here at Pre-K Printable Fun we have been hosting the Gingerbread Sightings Project for 5+ years, and it is always a blast!
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The Gingerbread Man Project is a fun and engaging learning project for educators and the students they work with. This project is fantastic for a single child or a whole classroom!
Explore what would happen if gingerbread cookies really ran away just like in the classic tale. 
After reading this fun story bake up some gingerbread man cookies with your little learners. Then go on an adventure to find the cookies after they "run away" while in the baking process!
Collaborate with other Pre-K Printables Club Members on this fun project by sending each other Gingerbread Sightings letters in the mail. Each time you get a letter, track it on a map for a lesson in geography. 
Don't worry, the cookies will return with our last special step of this project!
While engaging in this project there are plenty of learning opportunities for science, literacy, team building, math and much more!
Check out the rest of this page for more details about each step and other fun learning invitation our members have set up during past projects. 

Materials

Before the project begins you will need to gather materials. Here are the necessary basics and a few optional fun goodies that you might want to pick up:

• A version of The GIngerbread Man, you can check out our bookshop for versions we love and other fun books to read along the way
• Gingerbread Cookies (you can make them from scratch, a box kit, roll out dough, pre-baked cookies or even ones made from paper! Check out the Making Cookies section for ideas)
• The GIngerbread Baby by Jan Brett
• A map of the United State & something to mark the map such as stickers, markers, or string and pins
• Materials to make a gingerbread house (again there are many ways to do this!)
• Fun learning materials to support engagement and learning along the way
• All participants will also receive a free Gingerbread Man Event pack from Pre-K Printable Fun that includes the following printable activities:

Parent Announcement Letters (editable)
Gingerbread Men KWL Chart
Gingerbread Men Missing Poster
Gingerbread Man Play Dough Mat/Craft Template
Gingerbread Man Story Sequencing Activity
Gingerbread Man 2D Shape Clip Cards
Gingerbread Man on the Run Board Game 
Gingerbread Man Puzzle
Gingerbread Man Sorting by Size Activity

Project Introduction

Introduce this project to your students with a fun KWL chart, this fun themed KWL chart is available to members that are participating in our yearly event. 

Another PKPF GIngerbread Man Event exclusive, A letter to parents supports family engagement and involvement with the program. 

It all began Once Upon A Time....

The project begins with a reading of The GIngerbread Man. There are many versions out there so pick your favorite, this version from Jim Aylesworth has lovely illustrations. 
​The only requirement is that the gingerbread man runs away while baking. 
Of course reading this fun tale is a great lead to baking your own cookies!

Making the Cookies

This step is a great opportunity for science, math, and creative development. 
​We have seen our members do this step in a variety of ways!

Bake from Scratch

If your feeling adventurous and have the time, baking from scratch is a fun way to kick off this project. 
Easily incorporate math and science lessons as well as contribution with this activity. 
We had a great time doing this and even did some taste tests on the molasses. 
Boxed cookie mixes are also great!

Use Pre-Made Dough

Another option is pre-made dough sheets. These can sometimes be hard to find if you are looking for actual gingerbread flavors. We added raisins to ours for eyes after using the cookie cutters with the roll-out dough. 
Get the mini rolling pins here on amazon. 

Pre-Baked Cookies

Inviting your kiddos to decorate pre-baked cookies and then pop them into a cold oven for finishing works too!
Wendy P shared this photo of these adorable cookies her crew made. 

Craft Gingerbread People

You can even craft them from paper, cardstock, foam cutouts or wood! Jennifer Q shared this photo of her group's gingerbread creations.
If you decide to craft them you can pop them into your play kitchen or even a DIY play oven. ​

The Escape

The escape letter supports children as they begin to understand what has happened to the gingerbread men. This is one of the ones I wrote a few years ago. 

Wendy P shared this letter that was left for her preschoolers.

I've been doing this project for many many years. During one year I had a student that had done the project in my program before and was on third year, she knew what would happen to those cookies! 
She insisted we taped up the oven! 
Be prepared for these scenarios if you are repeating the project!

After the escape it's time to make some lost posters. Display until the gingerbread men come home. 

Letters & Tracking The Gingerbread Man

Here is where our Pre-K Printable Fun Members group project comes in!
For years our members have been collaborating on this project. Participating members agree to mail a letter to each other participant so each class will receive on average 18 letters (more or less depending on the year). 

Here is where you get to use your creativity! For the letters you send you can mail a letter, send post cards, or even cute gingerbread note cards (the choice is yours). Be sure to share a little bit about where you saw the gingerbread men, and what they were doing! You can include information about your own city, or state for some added social studies fun.

As letters arrive your student(s) will open them and read about the gingerbread adventures, here are just a few examples of letters members have mailed in the past. 

After reading the letter track it on a map, this is a fun way to introduce maps to young children and get them thinking about the world we live in. 
Many of the participants will include some tidbit about the area they live in. For example "I saw a gingerbread man hop on a cactus in the desert!" or "I saw your gingerbread skiing down the mountain" this helps children visualize the locations where their cookie has been spotted. 
Wendy P shared this photo of her children tracking where their gingerbread man was spotted. 

Gloria C shared this fun display, children track on the map and the sightings are featured around the map. 

Related Activities Along the Way

This project can take anywhere from a couple days to a couple weeks, you decide.  While waiting for your letters to come in, invite your preschoolers to engage in gingerbread theme learning activities!

Practice story retelling with the activities in the Gingerbread Storybook Theater set from PKPF

Add some math fun with this cookie sheet shape matching activity from the Gingerbread & Sweet Treats pack from PKPF

One of our participants, Emily C, made these fun stained glass gingerbread crafts with her kiddos!
​If you haven't made these before check out our tutorial. 

Support color identification with this fun roll and play activity from the Gingerbread & Sweet Treats pack. 

This small world play invitation made my participant Emily C is so adorable!

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My preschoolers loved making their own little gingerbread people out of dough and decorating the dough mat from the Gingerbread & Sweet Treats pack. 

Jazz up your Dramatic Play center with a fun Bakery where preschoolers can pretend to bake and sell all kinds of sweet treats.

Lure the Cookies Home

When you are ready to bring your project to a close it's time to find out how to lure those little cookies home!
Read the book Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett

*Spoiler* In this story the young baker decides to build a gingerbread house to lure his cookie home, your group will be doing the same!
Below are some examples of how our participants have made their houses in the past. 

Gloria C used a gingerbread house kit with her preschoolers. This is a fun and easy option!

One year my group made ours with graham crackers and icing. 

For a fun twist try making a peppermint gingerbread house!

Emily C invited her preschoolers to turn little wooden birdhouses into gingerbread houses! This is such a fun way to complete this project. 

Kristen S found these wonderful little gingerbread house boxes, so cute!

Fun Goodies to Add 

It's a funny thing, once you get into this project...you REALLY get into this project! Suddenly you will notice gingerbread goodies everywhere!
​Here are some that our members have shared and love!

In addition to your free event activity pack, you can also find more Gingerbread  activities inside the Pre-K Printable Fun shop-these fun and engaging learning activities are super simple to set up and oh so cute! 
​Also be sure to check out the free Gingerbread & Sweet Treats Theme Planning Page for even more activity ideas related to this theme. 

Send fun themed cards like these ones found at the dollar tree

Emily C shared this darling set of Christmas cookies her group got to play with. 

The Elf on the Shelf got in on the fun with Wendy P

This pop-up gingerbread house that Emily C shared is just adorable and perfect for dramatic play!

My favorite map is this one found at the dollar tree, it's large, colorful and just the right price.

Wunderlick daycare shared these tasty looking gingerbread waffles, such a fun snack during this theme!

I enjoyed making a display for the parents to see when our project came to a close. I included photos of our activities, our map and some of the letters we received.