Gingerbread Themed Lessons & Activities

Ready to plan fun Gingerbread themed lessons and activities for your preschool class? I have fantastic ideas and resources for your gingerbread lesson plans. A great list of gingerbread picture books, learning center activities with gingerbread men and houses, and gingerbread themed preschool lessons for whole and small groups all right here, so it’s easier than ever to find what you need! Filling out your holiday lesson plans for preschool has never been easier with these ideas, lesson plans, and resources! If these gingerbread themed lessons and activities aren’t enough, don’t miss our extra resource pack it’s filled with the printables I use the most in my classroom but with a Gingerbread theme- 24 pages of activities and instructions, all for $5.00!

Gingerbread Picture Books for Preschool

Georgie the Gingerbread Fairy by Tim Bugbird is a sparkly, fun book about entrepreneurship. Georgie is a little fairy who makes gingerbread, but her business suffers when a new shop opens in town. When a problem arises with the new shop, Georgie steps in to save the day and ensure that the holidays continue to smell delightful in her fairy town. My daughter loves this book and enjoys choosing which fairy she would be on each page (I’ll give you a hint: it’s always the one with the most pink!). I also appreciate the themes of problem-solving and supporting women-owned businesses!

The Gingerbread Pirates by Kristin Kladstrup was an instant hit with my then kindergarten-aged son, but it was too long for my daughter (who was a toddler at the time of review) to sit and listen but wasn’t engrossed in it. The story revolves around pirate gingerbread men who come to life on Christmas Eve and confront Santa, even though many of them are left for him to eat. It’s filled with adventure, humor, and plenty of Christmas magic. What truly made this book special for me were the illustrations by Matt Tavares. I appreciated that they were created from the perspective of the gingerbread pirates. I absolutely love this book!

The Gingerbread Man (Easy-to-Read Folktales) by Karen Schmidt is just such a silly story. I really enjoy this tale because, although it features the classic element of one character eating another—common in many fairy tales—it involves a gingerbread man. So when the fox eats him, it doesn’t seem so harsh. My son loved the repetition in the text when he was a preschooler and would sing along with me as we read. It’s a great story for discussing themes of taunting and showing off. Later that day, we even played gingerbread man tag, but we skipped over the whole cannibalism part.

Mini Merry Book: Gingerbread Joy  by Julia Woolf is a tiny little book that my daughter loved when she was about 6-months old. A good friend and I decided to give only books as gifts to each other’s kids one year, and this was one of the board books my daughter received. As expected, it’s a super simple book about baking gingerbread houses and people as a treat during Christmas time. What my daughter loved were the shiny foil inserts in the already fun illustrations. She enjoyed smacking them repeatedly with her chubby little hands. The text is simple enough that my son, who was 4. at the time, could help read it to her. Overall, it’s the perfect little stocking stuffer!

A Cookie For Santa by Stephanie Shaw is a sweet story to get into the holiday spirit. On Christmas Eve, children leave a gingerbread boy for Santa. When Santa arrives, he helps with the cleanup instead of eating the gingerbread boy. Santa invites him to assist for the rest of the night! While waiting to see what will happen to him, the gingerbread boy ends up saving Christmas by distracting two playful puppies that are determined to tear everything apart.