December is my favorite month in the classroom. Yes, I admit it can be a bit chaotic with the holiday parties and overall excitement but it is a lot of fun and there are so many fun themes that we do each year. Each year, I start with our gingerbread theme. Below are my favorite gingerbread activity ideas from my special education classroom.
ELA Ideas
- Read The Gingerbread Man. I always use the version retold by Mary Sandel from the Fountas and Pinnell intervention collection.
- Practice positional words using a gingerbread doll, cookie, or cutout and a cookie jar (I like this plastic cookie jar because it is not breakable!).
- Use the stem "(Name) ran away from the ______." during predictable chart writing and then use my class book template to create a book students can read again and again!
Math Ideas
- Practice subtraction activities using gingerbread manipulatives, or for some added fun use cookies and let students eat them as they subtract!
Cooking & Craft Ideas
- Make gingerbread playdoh. It smells delicious and can be made in the microwave! Find the recipe in my Gingerbread Thematic Unit or if your class loves to cook try my Visual Recipes for the Whole Year.
- Make gingerbread ornaments. These are a great gift idea for families and they also smell great!
Social Group Ideas
- Play who stole the cooking from the cookie jar. My Gingerbread Thematic Unit has script cards that make this game accessible to many students!
- One year my class made a gingerbread ornament from the recipe above for all of the staff members in the school and delivered them. This was a great authentic opportunity for practicing greetings and manners!
Interested in these activities and more? Why not bundle and save!
