Gingerbread Unit Study

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PLEASE NOTE

The WOLFe Pack Unit Studies are being updated, revamped and repackaged. During this tedious process, some printable packs will be free and others will be listed as $1.50. Eventually, they will all cost $1.50 but the images “out there” may still advertise the printable pack as free. I apologize for any inconvenience or confusion this may cause. Thank you for your patience and grace during this transition.

GINGERBREAD UNIT STUDY

Whether it’s building houses, making cookies, eating cakes, drinking lattes or whiffing candle scents, your kids have surely been exposed to GINGERBREAD in one form or another. But do they know anything about what it is or why it’s part of our Christmas traditions? Let this UNIT STUDY help you teach your kids all about GINGERBREAD!

If you find it handy to have a printable version of these suggestions, you can find one, along with several printables, in the Gingerbread Unit Study Printable Pack.

GINGERBREAD UNIT STUDY

{Note: The links are pink! Just think, “pink link” if you are wanting to follow a link.}

READ ABOUT GINGERBREAD

Chances are, you’ve read one or two versions of the Gingerbread Boy over the years. They all seem to follow the same concept where he is trying to run away and the crowd who follows grows and grows. It’s a fun concept that has loads of potential for literacy fun along the way!

I chose Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett to start because it follows the same pattern as the others only the baby does not die in the end! That’s my kind of story for sure! Plus, I Iove anything written and illustrated by Jan Brett (Wild Christmas Reindeer, The Three Snow Bears, Cozy and Snowy Nap to name a few!) And, in the Gingerbread Unit Study Printable Pack, you will find some worksheets to work on sequencing and comprehension after reading Gingerbread Baby.

Another fun option is The Gingerbread Cowboy by Janet Squires. This one has a southwest flair so it’s much less “Christmassy” but the desert animals add a nice twist to to the whole thing. But, be prepared…this cookie does not survive the ordeal! And, the Gingerbread Unit Study Printable Pack also includes some printables for this book including a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast this story with any other “Gingerbread Boy” story {and there are so many choices: The Gingerbread Girl, Gingerbread Mouse, Ninjabread Man, and more!}

I looked far and wide for an informative non-fiction book about GINGERBREAD, but I failed. I checked out our local library but came up empty! Then I tried Amazon and found nothing! {There’s an untapped market for any budding authors!}

However, I did find this one book, Gingerbread for Liberty, which is available on the Kindle but has received excellent reviews. It’s based on a true story and is less about gingerbread and more about the Revolutionary War, but it does look and sound interesting!

WRITE ABOUT GINGERBREAD

In the Gingerbread Unit Study Printable Pack, you’ll find two writing activities. One is this cute little guy that needs to be dressed up in a new persona. And, with that, he needs a new statement too!

There are also options for kids who can/like to write more. One activity asks the student to create an escape plan for the GINGERBREAD Man and another prompts the student to explain their experience with eating GINGERBREAD.

Here’s my silly attempt at a GINGERBREAD REINDEER. It doesn’t need to make sense for learning to take place…as a matter of fact, I think the sillier, the better! {I realize now that my poor reindeer has no ears, oops!}

LEARN ABOUT GINGERBREAD

Though I could not find any non-fiction books on the subject, there are a couple of pages in the Gingerbread Unit Study Printable Pack to help teach some GINGERBREAD facts.

CREATE GINGERBREAD CRAFTS

The two most obvious suggestions for a hands-on GINGERBREAD experience would be to bake cookies or build houses. Pinterest has a plethora of those options and, chances are, you’ve got experience with those already {though, if that’s not the case, I really do recommend both of those activities!} But, let me show you a few other ideas…

These Scented Gingerbread Ornaments are made out of sandpaper and are seriously the cutest GINGERBREAD craft of all! They look super easy to make with fairly common supplies, depending on whether you are married to a handyman or not {that would be a “no” for me. Sandpaper would be something I’d have to go out and buy for this craft.}

This Gingerbread Play-dough looks fairly quick and easy to make, though I’d be tempted to take an even easier route and just add some GINGERBREAD scent to store-bought Play-Doh and call it a day. Either way, I’m sure the littles would get a kick out of this hands-on way to explore the scent of GINGERBREAD while making an army of malleable GINGERBREAD boys and girls.

There are also these easy-to-make Stuffed Gingerbread Boys and Girls that take no unusual supplies and can be decorated very simply with crayons or full-on with glitter and baubles.

EXPLORE GINGERBREAD

Watch this quick, one-minute video on Pepperkakebyen, The World’s Largest Gingerbread Town.

Or check out this much longer, but highly informative 44-minute long Gingerbread Journeys that is free on Amazon Prime.

And, check out a recording of this fun Homeschool Trivia Class with Gingerbread as one of its topics! It covers some of the facts in this Unit Study and shares some new info as well!

ENJOY GINGERBREAD

Finding GINGERBREAD things to eat is super easy during the holiday season. Cookies, bread, cake, drinks, creamer, pancakes, hot cocoa….if there was a Pumpkin Spice option in October, there is a GINGERBREAD option now. But, if serving up something sweet is not your desire, you could just as easily light a scented candle to enjoy while reading a good GINGERBREAD book!