RIC-20937 Early years Fairytales - Gingerbread Man

The gingerbread man – 1
Mathematics
• Complete a dot-to-dot picture of a gingerbread man.
Refer to the blackline on page 54. (Number and
Algebra)
• Use the blacklines on pages 50 and 51 for ordinal
activities. The children can lay out the pictures of events
in the story. Ask them for the picture that comes ‘first’,
‘second’, ‘last’ etc. (Number and Algebra)
• Play the ‘Gingerbread game’ set out on the blackline on
page 48. Two children take turns to roll a dice and colour
the corresponding body part on a blank gingerbread
man. The first to finish colouring their gingerbread man
wins. (Statistics and Probability)
• Place pictures of all the characters that chased the
gingerbread man in the correct order. Use the words
‘first’, ‘second’, ‘third’ and so on to identify each
character’s position. (Number and Algebra)
• Show the children a picture of a house the gingerbread
man might live in, made from 2-D shapes. The children
identify the shapes, name them and count them. Refer
to the blackline on page 55. Encourage the children to
create a house using large wooden blocks or pattern
block shapes. (Measurement and Geometry)
• The children use a gingerbread man cut-out to
compare its size with other objects around the room.
Is the gingerbread man taller/shorter/bigger/smaller?
(Measurement and Geometry)
• Cut pictures of different-sized and decorated
gingerbread men in half lengthways. The children
match up the halves so they are the same on each half;
i.e. symmetrical. (Measurement and Geometry)
• Measure the length, area and perimeter of gingerbread
men cut-outs with informal units such as unit cubes,
cottonwool balls, counters or dried peas. (Measurement
and Geometry)
• Talk to the children about what character they liked the
most. (The teacher could stipulate those other than
the gingerbread man so there is more of a variety.)
Construct a pictograph of results. Display pictures of
the characters on the bottom of a chart. Give each child
a small rectangular strip of coloured card that has his
or her name written on it (or the child can write own
name). They help to make the pictograph by gluing
the cards in the column above their chosen character.
Ask the children questions such as: ‘How many people
liked the fox best?’ ‘Which character did most children
like the least/most?’ (Statistics and Probability)
• This game can be played with a six-sided dice or with
cards numbered from 1 to 10 (with or without dot
arrays) or numbers that are being treated in class. A
collection of gingerbread men cut-outs is also needed.
The children throw the dice or choose a card from a
facedown pile. They then count out the corresponding
number of gingerbread men and lay them in a row for
checking. (Number and Algebra)
• For this game, a dice, two gingerbread men cutouts
and a collection of counters or small blocks are
needed. A child rolls a dice and places that number
of counters on one gingerbread man. He or she then
does the same with the other gingerbread man. The two
piles can then be counted to complete a simple addition
activity. (Number and Algebra)
• Give pairs of children four different coloured (red, yellow,
blue, green) gingerbread men printed on card, a pile of
coloured clothes pegs and a bag with four matching
coloured counters or attribute blocks, identical in size
and shape. The children have turns to take a counter/
block out of the bag. They name the colour and clip a
matching coloured clothes peg on the corresponding
gingerbread man. The counter/block is then put back
in the bag and another is chosen. After a set time, stop
the game and talk about the number of pegs on each
gingerbread man. (Statistics and Probability)
• A popular maths activity using ‘The gingerbread man’ is graphing what body part the children bite off first when eating a
baked gingerbread man. After a cooking activity to bake some gingerbread men, tally or graph if the children bit off the
head, an arm, a leg or bit into the main body first. The children can have their names written on paper (or they write their
own) and glue it above a picture of the matching body part. (Statistics and Probability)
R.I.C. Publications ® – www.ricpublications.com.au Early years themes—Fairytales—The gingerbread man 43