Gingerbread Man

This time of year always brings many gingerbread man activities in the Orange Classroom. Many items will rotate in and out each day until our Winter vacation begins. At the beginning of the week, the sand table had what I call the ‘pink stuff’ and ended the week with gingerbread men. The children always love use the spoons to fill the little containers, pour from container to container, or swish their hands in the materials.

I will read many versions of the Gingerbread Man story to the children. It’s always interesting to see the variations by the different authors. The children all sing out the refrain during the story: Run, run, as fast as you can. You can’t catch me, I’m the gingerbread man.

In our Music Class, Mrs. Wada has been using music from the Nutcracker Ballet to teach the children dance routines using bells, scarves, and tambourines. The Nutcracker Ballet is dear to Mrs. Wada’s heart because all three of her daughters had the opportunity to play the role of Clara with the Boston Ballet as they grew. Fortunately, I was able to see each of them in a performance when it was their turn. We continue to have a weekly Movement Class. The children have been exposed to about two dozen action songs. Each week, we have playlist with 7 songs (about 20 minutes). The first and last are always the same (a warm up song and a cool down song). The five in the middle vary from week to week. The children seem to have about three favorite songs so at least one of them is included each week. I have many more action songs in my song library and will teach them additional new ones as the year progresses.

I hope you have a safe and relaxing holiday season and New Year. 2023 is just around the corner.