Sandpaper Gingerbread Men Activity
This activity uses sheets
of fine sandpaper. On the backside of the sandpaper, trace a simple
design of a Gingerbread man. Children cut their design out, then
rub with a stick of cinnamon for a great sensory experience. Puff
paints are then used to draw on decorative features and wiggly eyes are
glued to his face. Children with physical limitations can help with
the cutting by using Zizzors and a single switch. (The adult holds
the Zizzors while the child controls its use with the switch.) Children
given this control tend to be more active participants in all areas of
learning. Zippers (electronic scissors) can be purchased through
AbleNet
Inc. Gingerbread men can also be seen on our Bulletin
Board page
Zizzors
Button Snowmen
Have children cut out a simple snowman
shape or use pre cut snowmen for children to assemble. Using a model
children can count out buttons for his coat and eyes. The nose is
stamped with a small shaped sponge and orange paint, the mouth is drawn
with a marker. The hat is made with two rectangles positioned together
and glued by the children to form a hat. All these activities make
wonderful opportunities to integrate language lessons on body parts.
For example, before your children glue on their snowman button eyes, have
the child point to their eyes and say the name. Have fun!
Paint Stick Angel
This is a two day project using paint
sticks that were donated by our local paint store. On day one the
children paint their sticks white and let dry. On day two the children
cut out wall paper wings to glue to the back of their sticks. From
this point it becomes a language lesson where the children look into a
mirror and discover the color of their hair and eyes. Together with
the help of an adult, matching facial features are drawn on with marker.
Hair is added with yarn.
Gingerbread Clay Ornaments
These ornaments were made with Gingerbread
men cookie cutters and ovenclay. (This is clay that bakes
in a regular conventional oven.) The children always enjoy working
with and rolling out clay, which is a great sensory activity.
Tree Lifesaver Chain
What would Christmas be without the
children making their own chains for the tree. This chain is
made from figure 8 packing material cut in half. The children put
on one piece of packing foam then a lifesaver. (But first they had
to tell us the color!) We let the children suck on a lifesaver as
we worked. If children have a swallowing or chewing problem, we just
ground the candy up before letting the child have it. Always play
it safe!
Pine cone Santa
One of our staff members had lots of
pine cones to share. Last year we sprinkled pine cones with grass
seed, put them in a bowl of water, sprayed them with mist and had grass
Christmas trees to take home after several weeks. This year we decided
to have the children assemble the Santa’s you see below.
Christmas Bell Ornament
The Christmas
Bell below was adapted from an idea from The
Mailbox Preschool Magazine. We subscribe to this magazine and
find it to be a fantastic resource for thematic teaching. The
trick to this project is finding the very small clay pots in the middle
of Winter!
Bulletin Board Snowmen
The snowmen viewed below were made
with 3 doilies glued together with a long white paper strip running
down his back. Hats were made from black construction paper pieces. Likewise
the nose was made from orange construction paper. This snowman's arms were
made from twigs. Squiggly eyes and buttons helped finish off this project.
Christmas Wreath
We used porous craft store sponges
to make the green circle. Poinsettia flowers and candy canes were
stamped on and sprinkled with a fine white glitter to add a lovely effect.
A construction paper bow with lines of glitter completed the wreath.
Christmas Tree Mobile
Our children practiced their cutting
skills (below) by cutting out this four section Christmas Tree pattern.
The sections are strung together with yarn and decorated with beads and
glitter.
2002 Christmas Cards
(using the mobile pattern above)
Poinsettia
For this project
the children painted five paper plates with red paint. The plates were
cut into a leaf pattern and the leaves were attached with a paper brad.
Tongue Depressor Snowflakes
These snowflakes
were painted white, sprinkled with glitter and added to our tree.
In 2004 we used the same concept but added laminated pictures of the children.
Tongue Depressor Tree Gift
Digital photos of the children wearing Rudolph ears and
noses made this gift a real hit!
The star is wooden and can be found in most craft stores.
Q-Tip and Doily Snowflake
These snowflakes were sprinkled with glitter and used
on our 2002 Winter bulletin board.
Gingerbread People
This is one of two Gingerbread people which can be seen
on the bulletin board page. A child's body
was used as a pattern. It was decorated with puff paints, sponge
painting and pom-poms.
Santa Faces
Santa's beard and hat were cut out and glued onto a paper plate
that had been painted pink the previous day. Cotton was used for
Santa's hat and beard, a pom-pom for his nose, Wiggly Craft eyes
and his mouth was drawn with a red marker.
Stockings
We prepared this project by punching holes all around the
construction paper stockings. The children were then able to use
yarn to sew the back and front together. Their names and sponge art
decorations were applied with Glitter Paint.
Painted Snowmen
On the first day of this
project the children were asked to paint a large white circle. (We had
a sample model for them to try to match.) The second day the children
practiced their cutting skills by cutting out a pattern for the nose
and hat. We used a circle sponge to dot the eyes and cut a piece
of rick rack for the mouth.
Simple Paper plate Snowmen
We tied bells around the edges of two plates to make this a tamborine.
Gingerbread Home Assignment
This gingerbread man was done as a home assignment. We
asked parents to decorate their gingerbread man with items from the
kitchen.
It's always a good idea to find ways to involve parents in your activities.
For questions or detailed information please send
email to:
thematic@sbcss.k12.ca.us
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