More Gingerbread Men

Quinn is still very much enthralled by The Gingerbread Man story. A few weeks back we made a simple craft that she enjoyed! We have a gingerbread man cookie cutter, so I helped her trace around it onto cardboard (back of a cereal box) and then cut them out for her. I put out different materials--sequins, buttons, etc. for her to make the faces on the gingerbread men. We talked about them needing eyes, nose and mouth. We are also practicing using "a dot, not a lot" when she applies glue from a glue bottle, so this was the perfect time to practice this skill.

I put the finished gingerbread men (after dried) on a little cookie sheet (from our toaster oven) in a basket along with an empty flour sack, the gingerbread cookie cutter, a spatula, and a big mixing bowl for some dramatic play. Quinn is still on the cusp of independent dramatic play, so she didn't spend much time with these props, so I decided to do something else with the gingerbread men. (will post about that soon)

I love any opportunity to extend book experiences through cooking, art, etc. This activity also promotes fine motor, as Q had to manipulate the tiny art materials, art skills such as tracing and gluing, and also the skill of placing the facial features correctly on the gingerbread men.