Book: The Gingerbread Man
by Jim Aylesworth
Activity: Gingerbread Bean Bags
It just wouldn't be Christmas without this holiday classic, The Gingerbread Man. Go to Sur La Lune Fairy Tales (one of my favorite sites) and read an annotated version of the story and learn a bit of its history. Click here for a really fun on-line dress up game for your gingerbread person and Jenny at Allsorts has a wonderful on-line gingerbread house for you to decorate too.
Jan Brett's The Gingerbread Baby
book on her site.
Activity: Gingerbread Bean Bags
Supplies:
•brown felt for gingerbread, red felt for fox
•puffy paint (dimensional paint)
in assorted colors
•beans
•embroidery floss to match felt
(brown & red)
•embroidery needle
•scissors
•pins
•template (sorry again for the quality, my scanner is still down)
Step 1: print out template and cut out the patterns
Step 2: using the patterns cut out 2 gingerbread man pieces from brown felt and 2 fox pieces from red felt
Step 3: using the puffy paint, decorate one side of your gingerbread person and fox as desired; let dry about 24 hours before proceeding
Step 4: match decorated front and plain back piece of gingerbread man, pin
Step 5: using two strands of floss, stitch about 1/8" from the edge with a running stitch - leave opening for stuffing unstitched
Step 6: fill gingerbread person with beans, not too full, then complete the stitching and knot off
Step 7: repeat steps 5 and 6 for the fox; now you're ready for the game!
♥
Game: Gingerbread and the Fox
Goal: keep the fox from eating the gingerbread
Number of players: 2
How to Play:
•one player uses the gingerbread bean bag and one player uses the fox bean bag
•the gingerbread player tosses his bean bag
•from the same spot, the fox player tries to toss his fox bean bag so it touches (eats) the gingerbread person
•if the fox touches the gingerbread then he wins, if not the gingerbread person wins!
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Activity: Gingerbread Cookie Beanbags
Supplies:
•same as above but no template
•find a good circle to trace and use that as a template - try a coffee cup, measuring cup, etc.
Step 1: cut out two circles for each cookie; for the following game you will need six cookies all together (12 circles)
Step 2: decorate 3 cookies with the same pattern, such as a Christmas tree, and the other 3 cookies with the same pattern such as a snowman; let dry for 24 hours
Step 3: match a decorated cookie front with a plain cookie back and pin
Step 4: using two strands of floss, stitch about 1/8" from the edge with a running stitch - leave opening for stuffing unstitched
Step 5: stuff cookie beanbag with beans - not too full
Step 6: finish stitching up the beanbag and knot off; do the same for the five other cookies and your ready for the game!
♥
Game: Gingerbread Cookie Tic Tac Toe
Goal: to get three beanbags in a row - horizontal, vertical, diagonal
Number of Players: 2
How to Play:
•mark a tic tac toe grid on the floor using masking tape
•players take turns throwing their bean bags on the tic tac toe board trying to make three in a row and at the same time keep their opponent from making three in a row
•if the beanbag toss doesn't make it on the grid or lands in an already occupied spot then the player loses his turn
•the first person to get three in a row wins!
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I hope you enjoy these games and your new beanbags! You could package them up with written game instructions and have a great handmade gift for a child on your gift list. Have fun!
