The Elementary Entourage: May Your Students Be Merry and Bright {Brittany from Tickled Pink in Primary}

Hey Friends, it's Brittany from Tickled Pink in Primary again. As we get closer and closer to break, it gets harder and harder to keep students engaged. To keep my students "merry" during this time of year, I do a unit on the Gingerbread Man. It's one of their favorite units because we get to make gingerbread cookies and go on a gingerbread hunt! They also have to have good behavior if they want to participate in our Gingerbread House project at the end of the week. Throughout the week, we read many versions of the story and The Gingerbread Girl always seems to be one of their favorites. It's such a cute story! This unit is a great way to make your students "bright" because you can work on sequencing and comparing/contrasting.

Last year I found some foam Gingerbread Men in the Target dollar spot. The students decorated them and then I wrote the name of their favorite book on them. Can you tell I was being lazy and printed out my title instead of using the die-cut machine like I normally do? :)

At the end of our Gingerbread unit, we have a pajama party and decorate Gingerbread houses. I get so many parents that come in and volunteer for this project and are willing to donated the items needed for these houses. Throughout the week, I collect milk cartons. After they are washed and dried, I staple the top shut. Next, I lay out TONS of candy, icing, and graham crackers. I show the students how to use the icing like glue so everything will stick and they use popsicle sticks as knives. Remind students NOT to lick the popsicle sticks!