ICING
1 pound confectioners' sugar
3 large egg whites
1 drop lemon juice or vinegar
Food coloring
Raisins, currants, nutmeats, colored sugar, sprinkles and other decorations

For the dough, add the dry ingredients (except sugar) to a mixing bowl and stir well to combine. Beat the butter and sugar, adding one egg at a time. Continue beating until the mixture is smooth. Beat in half the flour mixture, then stop and scrape the bowl and beater(s). Beat in the molasses, scrape again, and beat in the remaining flour mixture, just until combined.

Divide the dough into several pieces and press each piece into a rectangle about 1/4 inch thick between 2 sheets of plastic wrap. Chill the dough for at least one hour or until firm.

Set the racks in the middle upper thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.

Roll the dough, one piece at a time, on a floured surface, just to make the dough flat and even, but not much thinner. Cut with floured cutters and arrange on the pans an inch or two apart. Repeat with the remaining dough. Reroll the scraps immediately; or press together, chill and reroll later. Bake the cookies for about 10 minutes, until firm when pressed with a fingertip.

Cool the cookies on the pans. Meanwhile for the icing, combine confectioners' sugar and egg whites in a mixing bowl and beat by machine until combined. Add the lemon juice or vinegar and continue beating until fluffy. Divide the icing into several small bowls and add coloring. Keep plastic wrap pressed against the surface of the icing to prevent a crust from forming. Use a paper cone or the snipped end of a plastic bag to pipe icing on the cookies. Use the raisins and other decorative ingredients to accent the icing

Gingerbread Men

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 cup dark molasses
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
Sugar icing, optional, recipe follows

In a large bowl, with an electric mixer cream the butter, add the sugar, and beat the mixture until fluffy. Beat in the egg, the molasses, and the vinegar. Into another bowl, sift together the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt and stir the mixture into the butter mixture, a little at a time. The dough will be soft. Divide the dough into fourths, dust it with flour, and wrap each piece in waxed paper. Flatten the dough slightly and chill it for at least 3 hours or overnight. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Roll out the dough, 1 piece at a time, 1/4-inch thick on a floured surface and cut out cookies with a 4-inch gingerbread man cutter dipped in flour. Transfer the cookies with a spatula to buttered baking sheets, arranging them 2-inches apart, and bake them in the oven for 6 to 8 minutes or until no imprint remains when they are touched lightly with the fingertip. Transfer the cookies with the spatula to racks and let them cool. Make cookies with the dough scraps in the same manner. If desired, pipe the sugar icing decoratively on the cookie using a pastry bag fitted with a small decorative tip. Let the cookies stand for 20 minutes, or until the icing is set.

Sugar Icing:
2 large egg whites*
1 pinch cream of tartar
3 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
Food coloring, optional

In a large bowl with an electric mixer beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar, a pinch of salt, and 2 teaspoons water until the mixture is frothy, beat in the sugar, a little at a time, and beat the mixture until it holds stiff peaks. Beat in the food coloring, if desired. Decorate baked cookies with the icing using a spatula or a pastry bag fitted with s small decorative tip and let the cookies stand for 20 minutes, or until the icing is set.

Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies

7 ounces best-quality semisweet chocolate
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup dark-brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup unsulfured molasses
1/4 cup granulated sugar, for rolling

Line 2 baking sheets with silpats, and set aside. Chop chocolate into 1/4-inch chunks; set aside. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, ground ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and cocoa. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream grated ginger and butter until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add brown sugar; beat until combined. Add molasses; beat until combined. Add the flour mixture in batches until fully incorporated. Mix in chocolate, cover with plastic wrap; refrigerate until firm, 2 hours or more.

Heat oven to 325 degrees F. Place the sugar in a pie plate. Using a 1-ounce ice-cream scoop, scoop the dough into a bowl filled with sugar. Roll each ball of dough in sugar. Bake until surface cracks slightly, 13 to 15 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Easy Gingerbread Cookies

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly milled black pepper
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup vegetable shortening, at room temperature
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2/3 cup unsulfured molasses
1 large egg
Royal Icing (recipe follows)

Position the racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.  Sift the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, cloves, salt and pepper through a wire sieve into a medium bowl. Set aside.  In a large bowl, using a hand-held electric mixer at high speed, beat the butter and vegetable shortening until well-combined, about 1 minute. Add the brown sugar and beat until the mixture is light in texture and color, about 2 minutes. Beat in the molasses and egg. Using a wooden spoon, gradually mix in the flour mixture to make a stiff dough. Divide the dough into two thick disks and wrap each disk in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until chilled, about 3 hours. (The dough can be prepared up to 2 days ahead.)  To roll out the cookies, work with one disk at a time, keeping the other disk refrigerated. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let stand at room temperature until just warm enough to roll out without cracking, about 10 minutes. (If the dough has been chilled for longer than 3 hours, it may need a few more minutes.) Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface and sprinkle the top of the dough with flour. Roll out the dough 1/8 inch thick, being sure that the dough isn't sticking to the work surface (run a long meal spatula or knife under the dough occasionally just to be sure, and dust the surface with more flour, if needed). For softer cookies, roll out slightly thicker. Using cookie cutters, cut out the cookies and transfer to nonstick cookie sheets, placing the cookies 1 inch apart. Gently knead the scraps together and form into another disk. Wrap and chill for 5 minutes before rolling out again to cut out more cookies.

Bake, switching the positions of the cookies from top to bottom and back to front halfway through baking, until the edges of the cookies are set and crisp, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool on the sheets for 2 minutes, then transfer to wire cake racks to cool completely. Decorate with Royal Icing. (The cookies can be prepared up to 1 week ahead, stored in airtight containers at room temperature.)

ROYAL ICING

1 pound (4 1/2 cups) confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons dried egg-white powder
6 tablespoons water

Make ahead: The icing can prepared up to 2 days ahead, stored in an airtight container with a moist paper towel pressed directly on the icing surface, and refrigerated.  This icing hardens into shiny white lines, and is used for piping decorations on gingerbread people or other cookies. Traditional royal icing uses raw egg whites, but I prefer dried egg-white powder, available at most supermarkets, to avoid any concern about uncooked egg whites.  When using a pastry bag, practice your decorating skills before you ice the cookies. Just do a few trial runs to get the feel of the icing and the bag, piping the icing onto aluminum foil or wax paper. If you work quickly, you can use a metal spatula to scrape the test icing back into the batch.  Dried egg-white powder is also available by mail order from The Baker's Catalogue, 1-800-827-6836. Meringue powder, which is dehydrated egg whites with sugar already added, also makes excellent royal icing; just follow the directions on the package. However, the plain unsweetened dried egg whites are more versatile, as they can be used in savory dishes, too.   In a medium bowl, using a hand-held electric mixer at low speed, beat the confectioners' sugar, egg-white powder and water until combined. Increase the speed to high and beat, scraping down the sides of the bowl often, until very stiff, shiny and thick enough to pipe; 3 to 5 minutes. (The icing can be prepared up to 2 days ahead, stored in an airtight container with a moist paper towel pressed directly on the icing surface, and refrigerated.)  To pipe line decorations, use a pastry bag fitted with a tube with a small writing tip about 1/8-inch wide, such as Ateco No. 7; it may be too difficult to squeeze the icing out of smaller tips. If necessary, thin the icing with a little warm water. To fill the pastry bag, fit it with the tube. Fold the top of the bag back to form a cuff and hold it in one hand. (Or, place the bag in a tall glass and fold the top back to form a cuff.) Using a rubber spatula, scoop the icing into the bag. Unfold the cuff and twist the top of the bag closed. Squeeze the icing down to fill the tube. Always practice first on a sheet of wax paper or aluminum foil to check the flow and consistency of the icing.

Traditional Royal Icing: Substitute 3 large egg whites for the powder and water.

Games and Activities

Matching Games

 Make 26 copies of a blank gingerbread man.  Make 26 copies of a peppermint, cookie, or any other candy shape.  Decorate the gingerbread men and put a different capitalized letter of the alphabet in each one.  Then decorate your other shape and put a matching lowercase letter on each.  Cut out and you have an inexpensive alphabet match game.  You may also do the same with colors (ie. match the gingerbread man's buttons to the correct color word), months of the years (match the month to its abbreviation), days of the week (match the day to its abbreviation), addition problems, shapes (button shape to its correct word), and so on.  

Blank Gingerbread Pattern 

 Blank Candycane Pattern

Christmas Patterns

Gingerbread Story Time

      Copy two gingerbread man shapes on brown construction paper.   Cut white lined paper shaped the same.  Have the  students then write their own Gingerbread story on the lined paper.  They may then decorate the brown paper gingerbread men, one will be the cover of the book and the other will be the back cover.

Counting Games

 Cut out 10 Gingerbread Men from the blank gingerbread man pattern.  Color and laminate.  Number each Gingerbread Man 1-10. 
 Have the children use buttons or peppermints and put the correct amount on each Gingerbread Man.

Sequence of Events

  Write the sequence of events for the whichever gingerbread story that you read on sentence strips.  Mix up the sentence strips and place them in the pocket chart.  Have the students then put the sentences in order.  You may also make this into a worksheet

The Gingerbread Man Search

This is the search that my students completed for the gingerbread man.  I hid clues (written letters as shown below) all over the school.  My first graders then had to read the clues and determine where the gingerbread man had gone.  As a culmination to this activity,  we decorated Gingerbread Men cookies that the Gingerbread Man left behind. 

Clue #1 (The Library)

Dear Boys and Girls,

Run, run, as fast as you can! You can’t catch me, I’m the gingerbread man.  I will be nice and give you a clue.
I’m where there are lots and lots of books to view.
I'm where they are famous for loaning you things that make your mind grow so you'll spread your wings.

Clue #2(The Main Office)

Dear Boys and Girls,

Run, run, as fast as you can!  You can't catch me I'm the gingerbread man.  I’m in a very busy place. The secretary has a very friendly face.  She types with her left hand,
and writes notes with her right.  When the phone rings, she takes the call without using any hands at all!  

Clue #3(The Principal's Office)

Dear Boys and Girls,

Run, run, as fast as you can!  You can't catch me I'm the gingerbread man.  I will be nice and give you a clue.  I’m in the office of someone who is nice, you know.
She/He told me not to run anymore,
But to walk wherever I go!   She is a very busy person and seldom in her office, I say.  She is busy walking the halls, making sure we work hard all day!

Clue #4(The Clinic)

Dear Boys and Girls,

Run, run, as fast as you can!  You can't catch me I'm the gingerbread man.  I will be nice and give you a clue. This nice lady is our friend and I'll tell you why. She'll check your ears
and she'll check your eyes. She'll fix the hurt that makes you cry.
I have to run now -- can't say good-bye!

Clue #5(The Custodians Room)

Dear Boys and Girls,

Run, run, as fast as you can!  You can't catch me I'm the gingerbread man.  I will be nice and give you a clue.  This is (custodian's name) room. Do you see the mop and broom? He/She empties the basket and locks the door.
(Custodians Names) are kind and good.
Can we help them?
Yes, we should!

Clue #6(The Cafeteria)

Dear Boys and Girls,

Run, run, as fast as you can!  You can't catch me I'm the gingerbread man.  I will be nice and give you a clue. I’m in the room you like a bunch.  It is a place where we are free to munch.
(Cafeteria Manager's Name) always makes sure we have a good lunch. If we're very polite and help keep it clean, and use soft voices, then our school will be keen!

Clue #7(The Music Room)

Dear Boys and Girls,

Run, run, as fast as you can!  You can't catch me I'm the gingerbread man.  I will be nice and give you a clue.  I’m in the room where you love to sing.  There are many bells in here to ring.  I am where there are xylophones and drums.  (Music Teacher's Name) always makes sure we have lots of fun when we come.

Clue #8(P.E.)

Dear Boys and Girls,

Run, run, as fast as you can!  You can't catch me I'm the gingerbread man.  I will be nice and give you a clue.  I'm in the room that is lots of fun.  You can run and jump and play! The coach makes us hop, skip and jump everyday.  

Clue #9(Guidance Counselor's Office)

Dear Boys and Girls,

Run, run, as fast as you can!  You can't catch me I'm the gingerbread man.  I will be nice and give you a clue.  I'm with the person who is nice to talk with.  She/He helps anyone feeling sad and blue.  She/He talks with many at a time or a few.  

Clue #10(Speech Classroom)

Dear Boys and Girls,

Run, run, as fast as you can!  You can't catch me I'm the gingerbread man.  I will be nice and give you a clue.  I'm with the teacher that helps people talk.  She helps with the l's, r's and s's and makes speech fun.  She works with many at a time or just one.

Clue #11(The Classroom)

Dear Boys and Girls,
I've run and run and run, but now I need some rest.  I am in the room I think is the best!  It's the room where you will find, a teacher that loves you all of the time.

Love, 

The Gingerbread man

When the students figure this clue out, make sure you have plain gingerbread cookies hidden in then classroom. As a culmination to this search, have them find the cookies and then decorate them.  My students loved this activity.  I turned it into a writing activity as well by having the students describe where they found their clues, how they figured their clues out, and so on.  You may adapt the search to suit your individual school.  It was fun!

Writing Activities

Class Big Books

Using the chant below, have the students fill in the blank with their own word.  Have them then copy and illustrate their page.  Create a class big book using the chant.

Run run as fast as you can!
You can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread Man.
I ran away from the ____________
And I'll run away from you!

You may also use the following chant to create a big book as well.

Run, run, as fast as you can,
You can't catch (student name),
She's (He's) the Gingerbread Girl (Boy)!

You may even use this chant to create your own class big book. 

Suggested Journal Topics

*Why do you think the Gingerbread Man ran away?
*How did the old lady and old man feel at the end of the story?
*What would you do to catch the Gingerbread Man?
*You see the Gingerbread Man talking to the Fox.  What would you do?   What would you say?
*What does this story remind you of? Why?
*How did the gingerbread man feel during the story?
*Who is your favorite character and why?
*What is your favorite part of the story? Why?
* Do you think the Fox should have eaten the Gingerbread Man?  Why?
*What if the last animal he saw when he was running was not a Fox but a dog.   What do you think would happen in the end?
*What if the last animal he saw when he was running was not a Fox but a dog.   What do you think would happen in the end?

A Lesson on Verbs

Run!  Run! 
As fast as you can!
You can't catch me!
I'm the Gingerbread Man!

 
Using the chant above, change the verb from run, run, to "jump, jump" etc. as fast as you can..  You can even make a class big book by each child using a different verb.

Make a Word Game

On a piece of paper, write the words Gingerbread Boy. Try to form smaller words using letters in Gingerbread Boy. 
Example:  beard, yard, read, grade, dear.  You may also use any vocabulary word from the book that you wish to such as Gingerbread Baby or Gingerbread House.  You can adjust this activity by making it a  center using magnetic letters instead.  Give the students the word to use and then have them use magnetic letters on a cookie sheet to make smaller words.

Word Study

Focus on the letter Gg for gingerbread.  Make word chart.  You can also focus on Hh for house or Bb for baby.  You may also focus on two letters and place pictures of words that begin with those letters on a blank gingerbread pattern.  You may have the students color and cut out the gingerbread cookie and place them in a generic cookie jar

Word Family Study

Make word families using the gingerbread men outlines on brown construction paper.  Blank Gingerbread Pattern On each one, write a word family /an/  /ack/  /ick/  etc. based on the words found in the story

Reading Activities

Shared Reading/Guided Reading

Using any of the assorted Gingerbread Man books, show the book to the students.  Let them look at the pictures as you turn the pages.  Ask them questions about the story such as what they think is happening, who are the characters, how is this different than other stories.  Ask them to make predictions and inferences about the story.

       After you are finished previewing the story, read the story. During the reading, ask students questions about the story and compare the story to their predictions.  You may also ask about specific words, punctuation, capitalization and so on.

Re-telling

After reading the Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett:

have the students retell the story using the masks found on Jan Brett's Website.

Jan Brett's Gingerbread Baby Masks

Venn Diagram

Have the students complete a Venn diagram about the various Gingerbread stories.  You may have them compare characters, versions, settings, author's crafts and so much more.  For example, after reading the following 3 versions of the Gingerbread Boy, you can have the students complete a Venn Diagram comparing the three.

To make your very own Venn Diagram, visit the link below.

Venn Diagram

Sequence Events

Write the sequence of events on sentence strips.  Mix up the sentence strips as you put them in the pocket chart.  Have the students put the sentences in order.  I have also done this on a piece a paper.  The students have then cut the strips out and glued them into the correct order.

Math Activities

Number Match

Give the students small paper plates with one numeral written on each plate. Ask the students to place the number of Gingerbread cookies (erasers) on each plate or card, according to the numeral written on the plate.  You may modify this by having the students use gumdrops or peppermints.

Gingerbread Math

Using an egg carton, place stickers with numbers on the bottom of each cup. Have the students roll a dice or spinner to get a number. Then place the correct amount of gingerbread men erasers in the matching cup.  The first student to fill their egg carton wins.

Graphing

Cut out several gingerbread men onto a variety of colors of construction paper.  Have students group by color.  Then graph how many of each color.  Make sure you vary the number of gingerbread men in each color.  You can also vary this activity by copying the blank gingerbread pattern and then having the students color it their favorite color.  Graph the results.  Another variation would be to take a survey and graph:  How many like gingerbread men with icing, candy, plain, and so on.  You may also take a survey of the students' favorite cookies. You may also ask each child what his/her favorite version of the story was and graph the results.

Blank Gingerbread Pattern 

Art Activities

Gingerbread Play dough

Ingredients: 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup salt, 2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp allspice, 1 tsp cinnamon,  1 tsp ginger, 1 tsp nutmeg, 1 cup water, 1 tsp. vegetable oil

Mix dry ingredients with spices to get color you like.  Mix  water and vegetable oil together and then add to dry ingredients.  Stir.  Cook the mixture for 2-3 minutes in a pot, stirring frequently.  The dough will pull away from sides of pan and clump together.  Knead the dough until soft, smooth, and pliable.  Cool and Store in air tight container.

Decorate a Gingerbread Man

Cut a large gingerbread man out of brown construction paper. Use glitter glue for frosting.  Color the macaroni with food coloring. Use wheel macaroni (buttons), shells, spirals, and bows.  You may also cut out a gingerbread man from sandpaper and do the same thing.  You may want to try sprinkling ginger on it for added effect.  

Clay Ornaments

1 1/2 cups ground cinnamon
1/3 cup white school glue
1 medium sized bowl
Flat surface for kneading
Wax paper
Rolling pin
Cookie cutters: various types
Knife
Straw
Nonstick cooling rack
Ribbon, Puffy paints, etc.
(Double the recipe for a class of 20.)

Directions:  Mix cinnamon, applesauce, and glue together in a bowl.  Remove from the bowl and knead the mixture until it turns into a firm clay. It will pull away from the sides of the bowl. Let sit for about 30 minutes. (Clay is best used at room temperature.)
Dust your rolling pin, hands, or working surface with cinnamon, or use wax paper as a working surface. Roll out clay with a rolling pin to approximately 1/8 of an inch thick. Use cutters to cut out desired shapes. If you are going to hang your shape, use a straw to cut out a hole near the top of the shape.
Place shapes on a non stick cooling rack or wax paper. Turn them over occasionally so that they dry evenly and dry shapes for approximately 5 days. When completely dry you may put a ribbon through the hole for hanging.

Family Gingerbread Man

Send home a large construction paper gingerbread man with each student.  Together with their families, the children decorated the men (and women) and returned them to school.  Send home instructions and hints on decorating the gingerbread men.  For a copy of the letter I sent home, click here.  We then hung them all around the school to advertise our Gingerbread Man search.  You may also use them to create a bulletin board or to decorate the classroom.