Primary school students will enjoy decorating this traditional gingerbread man with a modern-day twist. To prepare for this creative arts activity, cut out modern clothes from magazines. Gather art materials, such as child-safe glue, markers and pencil crayons. Provide the children with a blank gingerbread man template (see Resources). Ask them what they think a modern-day gingerbread man would look like. Instruct the students to glue clothes onto the gingerbread man and decorate using markers and pencil crayons.
Young children will enjoy decorating and measuring with this gingerbread man activity. Provide the children with a blank gingerbread man template (see Resources). Hand out rulers for measuring and art materials for decorating the gingerbread man. Instruct students to measure the gingerbread man and write the measurement on the bottom of the template. Students can decorate the gingerbread man using art materials. Display the gingerbread men on the bulletin board or the doorway of the classroom.
This gingerbread man activity can be adapted for children of all ages. Cut a large gingerbread man out of paper. For young students, write 10 gingerbread man story words on the cut-out--words such as old, run, bake and oven. Photocopy the gingerbread man template and distribute it to the class. Instruct the children to put the words in alphabetical order. For older children, choose longer words and remove vowels or consonants. Have the students sound out the words and fill in the missing alphabet letters.
Teach kindergarten students antonyms using this gingerbread man activity. Provide students with two gingerbread men--one big and one little--and have the children decorate one as a girl and the other as a boy. Discuss opposites such as "big and little," "tall and short," "girl and boy," "large and small" and "mother and father."