December 2006--Gingerbread Men

December has a lot of different themes to celebrate, with the beginning of winter and a myriad of religious and ethnic holidays.  So as not to offend anyone, or leave any child out of an activity, we have found that gingerbread is wonderful for everyone.  We have two crafts to offer you this month.

Cereal Gingerbread Decorations

 

Materials Needed:

Round cereal
Tacky Glue
Brown Construction Paper
Scissors
String
Hole Punch
Raisins
Marker or crayon

Directions:

1.  Draw a gingerbread man shape on  the brown construction paper.
2.  Cut the gingerbread man out. Punch hole in top of head for hanging.
3.  Cover half the paper man with tacky glue.
4.  Place O cereal pieces onto the glue.
5.  Repeat glue and putting the cereal on the glue on the other half of the man.
6.  Attach raisin features with additional glue.  Let dry.
7.  attach string through the hole in the head and tie a loop for a hanger.
8.  Hang decoration on the wall, from a door or window or on a tree.

This is a great activity to encourage pinch grasp and eye-hand coordination.  To make the activity a little harder, use the multi-colored O cereal, and have the children sort the cereal by colors and then outline the gingerbread men in rows of the same color or in a patterned design.  If you want to make the gingerbread men for the birds, use a heavier cardboard for the base man, and spread canned frosting on the cardboard instead of glue.  When the frosting hardens, it will hold the cereal and raisins in place, and then you can hang the decorations outside for the birds to enjoy!

Ginger Dough Men--Great for the Drawer or Closet


Materials Needed:

Mixing Bowl
Long Handled Spoon
3/4 cup cinnamon
3 tablespoons ginger
1 tablespoons ground cloves
whole cloves
1 cup applesauce
rolling pin
cookie sheet
gingerbread man cookie cutter
plastic straw
narrow ribbon

Directions:

1.  Mix the spices and the applesauce together in the bowl to form dough.
2.  Roll out dough to 1/4 inch thick directly on the cookie sheet.
3.  Cut out gingerbread shapes with cookie cutter and pull up excess dough from around the shapes.  Continue rolling and cutting until the dough is used up.
4.  Use whole cloves to decorate the gingerbread people.
5.  Using the plastic straw like a cookie cutter, punch out a small hole at the head of each gingerbread person.
6.  Let the gingerbread air dry for 3-5 days--until completely hard.
7.  Tie a ribbon through the hole and make a bow for hanging. These make great holiday gifts to make drawers and closets smell really great!


The stimulation of working with this dough utilizes both tactile and sensory awareness--while the dough is workable and after it has dried. This is also great for bilateral motor activities and eye hand coordination.


If you have not checked out our products section lately--see what we have for Gingerbread themes in our Foods--Fine Motor Area    Gingerbread Sort and Snap. 
These cookies sort and snap together by attributes--boys, girls, hats, hair, stripes, buttons or shoes.  So many sorting possibilities.  Each 2 1/2" x 3" cookie is painted with a different attribute.  This comes with an Activity Book.  Appropriate for ages 3 and up.