Using bulletin board paper or a large roll of construction paper, have children lie down on the paper and trace each child. Cut out the shapes and have each child decorate their gingerbread kid with colored construction paper that has already been cut into shapes such as bows, circles and strips that they can attach with glue sticks. The children can complete the decorating with crayons, and these gingerbread kids can be hung on the wall and displayed.
This fun craft uses ordinary sandpaper and cinnamon sticks to create a tactile gingerbread man that also emits the smell of fresh-baked gingerbread. Using pieces of sandpaper, cut out a gingerbread man for each child. Give each child a cinnamon stick, and have children rub the cinnamon stick on the sandpaper gingerbread man repeatedly. Add different hues of food coloring to glue bottles, which will be faux icing the children can use to decorate their gingerbread men. Be sure to warn the children not to eat this gingerbread man.
Another fun activity for preschoolers is to use sequencing cards, which are cartoon depictions of various events in the story that are cut out as individual pieces of paper. Arrange the cards in a random pile and have the children arrange them in the order in which they should appear. For added fun, have the kids arrange the cards in a different order and have them make up a new story based on the new sequence of events.
Preschool teachers can find printable versions of characters in "The Gingerbread Man" on various educational websites that can be printed and glued to construction paper. Help children cut them out and have them color the characters, including the gingerbread man, and the various animals that want to eat them, using a glue stick to attach the characters to wooden craft sticks. Finally, assign each child to be one of the characters in the story and have them act out the story while you read it to them.