All around the Gingerbread House, we added decorations.
Gumdrops, smarties, candy canes; can hardly wait to eat it.
Yum! (tune: Pop Goes The Weasel)
This is one of my favorite Christmas activities. There are so many different lessons and it’s so much fun for the kids. For example: the colors of the candies and the shape of the pieces–the rectangles and squares, and how the roof makes a triangle shape plus all the circle candies. Then, the vocabulary about the roof, the sides, the walls and the decorations. Putting the house together builds on instructions and sequencing. There’s lots of explaining and questioning and communicating. All the kinds of candies need to be sorted into groups. Some candies can be put on in a pattern such as red smartie, yellow one, red, yellow, etc. There’s all kinds of counting to do and maybe even some adding and subtracting. The whole process needs planning and organizing skills and, at times, negotiating and sharing ones as we may all have our own ideas.
Making a gingerbread house is so special and makes learning so much fun!! It’s not just for kids, either. Grownups all over the world have decorating contests and there’s displays of entire villages. So there’s a community and social aspect. Hansel and Gretel is not only an historical fairy tale, it’s performed as an opera adding a musical and theatre element. Think of kindergarten readiness as another ingredient or another step in the recipe rather than a whole new one and include it in what you are already doing. A gingerbread house is a great example of adding in learning. How do you do yours?