Low Prep Gingerbread Activities for Kindergarten

As winter break approaches, it can be fun to bring some holiday cheer to your classroom! If you’re looking for an inclusive seasonal topic that doesn’t focus on a specific holiday, consider the gingerbread man! In this post, I’m going to share some of my favorite print-and-go gingerbread activities for kindergarten. 

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Gingerbread Activities for Kindergarten

The activities that I’m sharing in this post are meant to be low-prep for you but engaging for your students. December is a busy month, so it can save your sanity to have some festive print-and-go activities in your back pocket. You’ll be able to grab your students’ attention and help them review important literacy and math skills without a ton of extra prep time. Here are a few ideas:

Graphing

First, you can bring some gingerbread fun to your math practice! Students can color and count a variety of gingerbread-themed pictures in this printable activity.  After writing the correct number next to each picture, students will then color in a graph to model each number. 

Students can then use their graphs to help them analyze the data. They will answer questions about which shape has the most, which has the least, and which shapes have an equal amount. You can use picture cards in a pocket chart to model for students how to graph and interpret the data from the worksheet.

Phonics Picture Sort

The word “gingerbread” provides a great teachable moment for the soft sound of /g/! Once your students have had a chance to learn and practice this sound together as a class, they can complete a picture sort! 

Your students can color and cut out the different pictures that show words starting with hard or soft /g/. Students can then sort and glue each picture to the correct side of the worksheet based on the beginning sound. The heading for each section includes a picture reminder for the two different sounds of /g/. This encourages students to be more independent as they practice their phonemic awareness.

Character Labeling

Labeling is such a great way to help beginning writers grow in confidence! Adding labels to objects and people is a “quick win” activity that can help students start to see themselves as writers.

After reading a gingerbread story together as a class, students can write the corresponding label underneath each picture. After labeling each character from the story, students can then color the pictures. This activity can be used as a whole-group activity, but it could also be a great addition to your literacy centers or small groups.

Story Sequencing & Retelling

Sequencing a story is such an important reading comprehension skill for young students to practice. It’s especially helpful to kindergarteners since they are still developing their oral language skills. When students can put story events in the correct order, it helps them build a strong foundation for reading comprehension as well as writing.

In this sequencing and retelling activity, students can color and cut out the pictures of the different story events, then paste them in order on the page. After completing this task, students can then answer two comprehension questions about the story. 

Students can use the story pictures on their worksheet to help them retell the story, or you could provide them with story retelling cards. These cards are also fun to use for whole-group retelling activities. You could hand out the cards to six students and have them put themselves in the correct order as they work together to retell the story. 

My Favorite Gingerbread Stories for Kindergarten

The activities above can go along with a variety of different gingerbread picture books. Here are some of my favorite books to read with kindergarten students when we’re completing these gingerbread activities.

1. “The Gingerbread Boy” by Paul Galdone

This is one of my favorite “traditional” retellings of the gingerbread man story. There are a couple of vocabulary words that you’ll want to review with your students before reading this book together.

2. “The Gingerbread Man” by Jim Aylesworth

This is another great retelling of the gingerbread man story. It has great illustrations! This version also has some good vocabulary words to introduce to your students before reading.

3. The Gingerbread Girl by Lisa Ernst

This fun book is a great addition to your gingerbread book rotation. The story is very similar to the traditional gingerbread man stories, but she is able to outsmart the fox and not get eaten like the gingerbread boy!

4. “Gingerbread Friends” by Jan Brett

Jan Brett has a whole series of gingerbread books, but this is a great story to use if you would like to incorporate a gingerbread house into your discussion. Your students will love to watch the second story in the margins of the book as you read!

5. “The Gingerbread Pirates” by Kristin Kladstrup

This clever story is one of my absolute favorites! Just keep in mind that this book mentions Christmas and Santa.

If you’d like to take a closer look at these stories, check out this video! I also share more details about why each book is a good choice for the kindergarten classroom, along with tips for sharing them with your students. 

Printable Gingerbread Activities for Kindergarten

All of the activities mentioned above (and more!) can be found in one low-prep resource! This set of print-and-go gingerbread activities for kindergarten can help you bring some holiday fun to your classroom. Most of these printables are not book-specific, so they will partner well with any version of the gingerbread story you choose to read to your students.

If you’d like to take a closer look at everything included in this set of gingerbread activities, just click below to find it in the Teaching Exceptional Kinders shop or on TPT.

Save These Kindergarten Gingerbread Activities

Be sure to save this post if you’d like to come back to it later! Just add the pin below to your favorite board on Pinterest. You’ll be able to quickly find these gingerbread activities when you’re putting together your December lesson plans.