Advent Day 14: The Gingerbread Man and Gingerbread Bean Bags & Games

 
Book: The Gingerbread Man by Jim Aylesworth
Activity: Gingerbread Man Story Bean Bags

It just wouldn't be Christmas without this holiday classic, The
Gingerbread Man. Go to Sur La Lune Fairy Tales and read an
annotated version of the story and learn a bit of its history. Jenny at
Allsorts has a wonderful on-line gingerbread house for you to decorate
too. Jan Brett's The Gingerbread Baby is another fun version. She also
has a lot of great activities to go along with her book on her site.


Gingerbread Bean Bags Tutorial

Supplies:

• pins
• beans
• scissors
• embroidery needle
• brown felt for gingerbread, red for the fox
• embroidery floss to match felt (brown & red)
• puffy paint (dimensional paint) in assorted colors
• template (sorry again for the quality, my scanner is still down)

Step 1: Print out the template and cut out the patterns. 

Step 2: Use the patterns to cut out 2 gingerbread man pieces from
the brown felt and 2 fox pieces from the red felt.

Step 3: Decorate one side of your gingerbread person and fox with
the puffy paint and let dry for about 24 hours before proceeding. 

Step 4: Match the front and back pieces of the gingerbread
man together and pin. 

Step 5: Use two strands of floss and stitch about 1/8" from the edge
with a running stitch - leave an opening for stuffing. 

Step 6: Fill gingerbread person with beans, not too full, then
stitch up the opening and knot off.

Step 7: Repeat steps 5 and 6 for the fox. Now you're
ready for the game!


How To Play The Gingerbread Man and The Fox Game

Goal: Keep the fox from eating the gingerbread man!

Number of players: 2

How to Play:

One player uses the gingerbread man bean bag and
one player uses the fox bean bag. 

The gingerbread man player tosses his bean bag and then
the fox player tries to toss his fox bean bag so it touches
(eats) the gingerbread man. 

If the fox touches the gingerbread man then he wins,
if not then gingerbread man wins!



Gingerbread Cookie Beanbags DIY

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 so 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: Use two strands of floss and stitch about 1/8" from the edge
with a running stitch - leave an 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!

How To Play Gingerbread Cookie Tic Tac Toe Toss

Goal: 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 with 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!

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!

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