Working With The Gingerbread Man In The Classroom

April 30, 2013 sarah Uncategorized

If you are educating young children about trust in other people then sooner or later you may be giving some thought to the story of The Gingerbread Man and specifically the consequences of over-confidence. You will need comprehensive early years resources, information about the dangers of over-confidence as well as first rate teaching resources looking specifically at the story of The Gingerbread Man.

The Gingerbread Man is one of several classical fairy tales that engages children from the very outset. This is an especially favoured story for children in the age range of three to 6 years of age.

To work effectively with The Gingerbread Man you will benefit from resources for teaching The Gingerbread Man. This tale is one of a series of particularly focussed early years resources.

The story tells the tale of a gingerbread cookie made in the shape of a man who comes alive and opts to make his escape. He evades untold pursuers, taunting them as he is going. He meets his demise at the hands of a cunning fox who manipulates The Gingerbread Man into relaxing his guard. The tale makes in depth use of rhythm and repetition. In some versions The Gingerbread Man cries out as each quarter of him is devoured.

The Gingerbread Man can draw out standard features such as story language, characters, plots and offers many opportunities to cover objectives for conversation and listening. Small children can re-tell the story orally using pictures as visual cues. As children become acquainted with the text and repetition of The Gingerbread Man they will be in a position to re-tell the tale themselves after having had it read to them a considerable number of times.

It is good practice to provide puppets and other interactive objects related to the story so the children can re-tell or re-enact the tale using using pictures, puppets and story props in little groups. Kids could use masks and act out the story out of doors or in the role-play area. Young children are sometimes keen to perform this kind of activity independently, without adult intervention.

Allowing children to re-tell stories themselves helps to develop their story telling capabilities, builds their self-esteem and develops the social abilities for working in a small group. To form further interest, the story might be recorded, filmed or narrated in some other way to the rest of the class.

Age-old fairy tales are handy tools for identifying basic story elements the beginning, the middle and the end. There are many versions of The Gingerbread Man and they can form the foundation of an exercise in comparing one with another.

There are many creative activities that young children can engage in. Collages and paintings can be created and once displayed the study room will look animated and full of color. Every child will be well placed to have their work displayed.

One specific activity that is inspired by this story is for children to cook their own gingerbread men following a time-honoured recipe and decorate their culinary masterpieces using a spread of icing and fruits.

The Gingerbread Man inspires many different concepts for creative writing. The process of creating different versions and endings could be a valuable exercise. Telling the story of The Gingerbread Man from a different character’s perspective can also be challenging and a good stimulus for giving vent to further creative story writing skills.

It is typically helpful to perform theatrically and use drama ahead of creative writing and hot seating some of the characters gives a good comprehension of the intricacies of the characters involved. The children can create their own varied productions using alternative locations, characters and props. All of these practical concepts and activities encourage young children to think in a theatrical way and act as a stimulus when preparing for writing. It is widely believed that boys particularly gain from lively drama and role-play experiences before they are asked to write.

creative writing, fairy tales, the gingerbread man,

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