Homeschooling with Gingerbread

If you're new to the blog, you've probably been confused over the last few days by all the Christmas posts.  You might be saying, "I thought this was a homeschool blog!"  We are indeed a homeschool family and are 35 days into our new school year.  I've been writing a 31 day pre-Christmas series all this month.  Today, I'm combining the two and offering some Christmas-themed homeschool ideas.  You have plenty of time to gather your supplies to do these during December for homeschooling or for winter break fun if your kids attend school.

Click on the red words (links) to go to the posts.

Play Dough // Fantastic Fun and Learning- Make cookies over and over and decorate them any way you want with this play dough recipe.  Great for a classroom or home.  Use your own gingerbread cookie cutters or buy some here.

Fun and Games with Gingerbread Baby // Babies to Bookworms- One of the variations of the Gingerbread Man stories is the Gingerbread Baby.  Get lots of fun games and activities on this blog.

Growing Salt Crystals // Little Bins for Little Hands- Salt Crystals are a great science experiment for any time of the year.  I love how these gingerbread man ornaments look sprinkled with sugar.  This would be a great tie-in for how snowflakes form.  If you're kids enjoy making crystals, they'd probably appreciate a crystal kit for Christmas.

Felt Busy Box // Teach Me Mommy- I love how this mom makes felt kits for her kids every few months.  She's has lot of ideas that you should check out on her blog.  The kits would be great for the car, grandma's house, Christmas Eve service, or any other time you need the kids to be quiet and occupied this season.

Dissolving Cookies // Little Bins for Little Hands- Some of the gingerbread man stories have the cookie falling and dissolving in the water.  This experiment looks at how long it would take the cookie to meet his end.  Expand the activity by looking at how long it takes other Christmas treats and candies to succumb to the water.

Long-Lasting Ornaments // Schooling a Monkey- I remember making cinnamon ornaments with a babysitter.  They're a classic.  This blog post has a recipe for ornaments that last year after year.

Honey Gingerbread Cookies // Preschool Powol Packets- These cookies sweetened with honey sound lovely.  Get the recipe on the blog.  Don't forget to bring your gingerbread man cookie cutters to the party!

Scented Slime // Little Bins for Little Hands- Straight from the Slime Queen herself, gingerbread scented slime!  It sounds amazing, and I love how it features a different texture from most gingerbread sensory activities.

Magic Painting Activity // Homebound but Hopeful- Color your gingerbread man with white crayons and then paint over it to reveal your design.  Be sure to stock up on washable watercolor paint!

Paper Plate Craft // Natural Beach Living- Aren't these gingerbread faces adorable!  I think they would be great for a classroom bulletin board.  It would also be a cheap way to decorate your home this season.

Chemistry Experiment // Little Bins for Little Hands- My kids love kitchen chemistry so I know they'll enjoy this easy experiment.  Christmas time is a great time to learn some science!

Gingerbread House Ornaments // The Inspiration Edit- My kids have already started talking about making gingerbread houses this year (probably because I keep making miniature ones for our elf).  These kid-friendly houses can be packed away and hung on the tree year after year.

Crystal Ornaments // Little Bins for Little Hands- Expand on the ever popular salt crystal experiment by using it to create ornaments for your tree.  They can be tied on presents as gift tags too.

Glitter Slime // Natural Beach Living- Christmas can never have enough glitter!  Here's a beautiful, gingerbread scented slime for your family or to give as a gift.

Candy House Craft // The Preschool Toolbox Blog- Are you about to have lots of candy in your house from Halloween?  Use it up by crafting with it!  If you work at a school or co-op, everyone can pool their candy stash and make really neat houses.  All without the frustration of cookie walls and frosting.

Cookie Numbers // J Daniel 4's Mom- These numbers are great for cookie themed math (I have a printable you could use them with too- click the link).  My kids love when I make our math more interesting by giving it a theme and these numbers are just what we need for Christmas.

Play Dough // Natural Beach Living  This no-cook dough recipe uses real gingerbread cookie ingredients like molasses, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  It also doesn't contain any cream of tarter, so it's good if you don't have that ingredient in the house.

Gingerbread Loose at the School Activities // The Preschool Toolbox Blog- A fun, comic book style version of the Gingerbread man has spurred lots of activities for children.  Click on the blog to check them all out.

Shape Craft // J Daniel 4's Mom- Explore shapes and build a gingerbread ornament for the tree with this easy activity.

Gingerbread STEM Activities // The Natural Homeschooler-  Give your child a bunch of store-bought gingerbread cookies and then ask them to perform a series of tasks.  If your child enjoys STEM activities, they'll probably enjoy these STEM kits for Christmas, too.

Kindergarten Printable Pack // Natural Beach Living- This printable pack is full of lots of preschool and kindergarten skills.  Just print and go.  Take it in the car or show it off to the relatives.

Paper Bag House // J Daniel 4's Mom- Decorating gingerbread houses couldn't be easier with this paper craft project.

10-Frame Printable // Modern Preschool- My 6 year old son is doing very well using 10-frames for counting and math concepts.  This gingerbread themed set will be perfect for Christmas learning.

Writing Tray // The Imagination Tree- I am always so inspired by the Montessori-inspired writing trays at this blog.  This gingerbread one might just convince my reluctant writers to try it out.  I love how she used it for sight words, spelling, and math- that's a lot of school subjects for one activity!  Buy some Gingerbread Men cutouts here to make the differentiation of the activity for each kid easier on you, the teacher.

I few days ago, I put out a blog post with new versions of classic holiday books.  The gingerbread section was particularly fun to write, as there are so many different themes.  Click on the link to visit the post and see other books in the Nutcracker and Night Before category.

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