Skip to main content

Gingerbread Man Shapes

Get the Book

L Is for Lion

Buy the Book
L Is for Lion

Learning the ABCs is fun and easy with Between the Lions®!  L Is for Lion expands on this award-winning PBS Kids® series, to help parents make learning letters fun and easy for their children. From exploring foods that begin with each letter to learning how to shape letters with their bodies, the activities in L Is for Lion let children explore the alphabet with all five senses.

Gingerbread Man Shapes

What You Will Need:

  • Bread
  • Cream cheese or frosting
  • Dried fruit, sunflower seeds, and/or candy
  • Gingerbread man (or woman) cookie cutter

What to Do:

  1. Use the cookie cutter to cut gingerbread man shapes out of slices of bread.
  2. Spread cream cheese onto the shapes, and use dried fruit, sunflower seeds, or candies to decorate each gingerbread man.
  3. Enjoy the yummy gingerbread man shapes.
  4. As you eat the gingerbread man shapes, ask, What part of your gingerbread man do you eat first--the head, arm, or leg?

Note: Remember to wash your hands before beginning this project.

More Ideas:

  • Matching Gingerbread Children: Use a gingerbread boy (or girl) cookie cutter to cut out 12 identical brown paper gingerbread people. Add simple decorations to make six matching pairs. Use buttons, happy or sad faces, decorations at the wrists and ankles (zigzag lines, straight lines, or no lines) to make distinct pairs. Model how to find a matching pair and place them together. Then let your child find the matching pairs.
  • Gingerbread Children: Ask your child to tell a story about one of her gingerbread cookies. Ask, What is your cookie’s name? What does your cookie like to do? How is your cookie feeling?

Instructions

Preparation
l Cut play bread and various sandwich fixings from the colored craft foam or
construction paper, such as tomato slices, onion slices, pickles, lettuce, slices of
meat and cheese, black olives, and so on.
l Display signs that read "Neighborhood Sub Shop" and "Sub Sandwiches $1."
l If necessary, draw, photocopy, and cut out several copies of pretend $1 and
$2 bills.
What To Do
1. Draw the children's attention to the dramatic play area. Talk with the children
about times they have been to a submarine sandwich shop.
2. Show the children the materials, and invite the children to pretend they are
working in a neighborhood sandwich shop.
3. Give examples of language the food service worker might use, such as: "How
can I help you? What could I get for you today? What would you like on your
sandwich?"
4. Using play $1 and $2 bills, challenge the children to pay and provide simple change.
S o n g
I'm Working at the Sandwich Shop by Mary J. Murray
(Tune "I'm Picking Up a Baby Bumble Bee")
I'm working at the sandwich shop, come see
I'll make one for you and I'll make one for me.
I'm working at the sandwich shop, come see.
Mmmmmmm...they're good. (pretend to take a bite)
Assessment
To assess the children's learning, consider the following:
l Can the children name the various ingredients they are using to make their
sandwiches?
l Can the children make change using pretend money?