The classic tale of the gingerbread man is one of my favorites, but have you heard about the gingerbread baby? Take a peek at how I add some holiday magic to my classroom with these gingerbread baby activities.
Gingerbread Baby Activities
We started this lesson with one of my favorite stories, the tale of The Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett. In this adorable story, a little boy named Mattie bakes a gingerbread baby who escapes into the woods and has lots of adventures along the way. But Mattie saves the day and captures the gingerbread baby in a cute twist at the end of the story.
I love to read this story during the month of December because children of all faiths and religions can participate in our gingerbread baby activities. It's the perfect way to add some holiday magic to your classroom and include everyone in the fun!
Setting The Stage
Later that day, a special surprise was delivered to our classroom. What if Matti, from the story The Gingerbread Baby, dropped off a tray of gingerbread babies
for your students to care for? Well, that's exactly what happened in our class!
After reading the story, my students were so excited when a cookie sheet arrived in our classroom with gingerbread babies all lined up in baby strollers
! Also included was a letter from Mattie asking us to care for some extra gingerbread babies that he had made.
I gave each of the students a gingerbread baby and read the letter from Mattie out loud. The letter explained that Mattie had baked too many gingerbread babies and asked us if we could care for them until he could come back and get them. You can imagine the excitement when I passed out the babies to the students!
Naming Our Gingerbread Babies
The first thing we did was talk about what to name our babies. We worked together in interactive writing to make this chart of gingerbread baby names including really cute ideas like Cookie, Sprinkles, and Peppermint.
Next on our list of gingerbread baby activities was to name their baby, give it a birth certificate, and even make it a baby book!
I found some tiny little rattles
and mini baby bottles and included them with the package as well. The students LOVED this activity.
They cared for their babies for two days. They even took them home overnight with a special letter to their parents. The letter explained that the students should care for their baby, read it a bedtime story, and return it the next day to school.
Saying Goodbye To Our Gingerbread Babies
Finally, after a few days of caring for their babies, Matti came back to pick up the gingerbread babies. The students got a final letter from Matti thanking them for taking such good care of the little Gingys…..and a box of gingerbread cookies as a treat!
Are you ready to add some gingerbread baby activities to your lesson plans? This Gingerbread Baby unit includes printable and digital activities. Click here to take a look at everything included in this magical holiday lesson!
Looking for other holiday lesson plans for your classroom? Hop over here to take a look at how we apply to be one of Santa's elves and spend the day at the North Pole!
