Gingerbread, Sparkles and Surprises

Follow my blog with Bloglovin I love this time of the year! I know it tends to be crazy . . . crazy schedules, crazy kids and crazy time crunch, but I try to throw some fun into it and relax wherever I can. My class has been reading different versions of "The Gingerbread Man," including the version from Karen Schmidt, Jim Aylesworth, "Gingerbread Baby" by Jan Brett, and "Gingerbread Man Loose in the School" by Laura Murray. We do the usual compare and contrast activities. Their favorite activity, however, is when we act Karen Schmidt's version out. I have laminated 9x12 pieces of posterboard and tied ribbon on it to put around their necks. We go through the story and write each character name on one of the pieces of posterboard. (The gingerbread man, fox, 3 farmers, etc.) Then the children get to choose a character (sometimes I draw sticks with their names on it so there isn't any fighting). I also have a narrator. The narrator reads the story and the kids act out the parts. I usually have to do this twice so everyone gets a chance to be in it. It is such a fun activity!

Today is my birthday (yes, 29 AGAIN!!!!), so I made some special gingerbread cookies as a surprise for my class tomorrow. I think they will be excited. I have a few ready to go . . .

I hope you are taking some time to do some fun activities with your kids. It's amazing how the simplest things can make the biggest impression. Here's to a magical season of gingerbread, sparkles and surprises! Have a great week!

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