GINGERBREAD man activity: first bite chart

This year in order to add a little math to our week of gingerbread man activities, I made a First Bite Chart.  Charts are easy to put together, make a great foundation for many educational discussions, and are a whole lot of fun!  I made this one before we baked cookies so it was ready to bring out after the first bites!  (Oh you know, right when they came out of the oven!)

Gingerbread Man Activity: First Bite Chart

what you need: Two large pieces of white construction paper ~ 2 pieces of brown construction paper (optional 2 more pieces of brown construction paper for the frame) ~ sharpie or black marker ~ Gingerbread Man Activity Printout~ gingerbread man cookies

Start by gluing the two white pieces of construction paper together.  I overlapped one an inch over the other.  Print out the gingerbread man, cut it out and then trace it onto the brown construction paper.  Make 5 of those, for each one cut a limb (or the head) off.  Glue these 5 bitten cookies onto the top of the white paper, I went about two inches down from the top.  Write a title, be creative and then let us know the great chart name you use!!!   Use a ruler to draw a line under the gingerbread men, make sure to leave enough room to write under each gingerbread man.  Draw chart lines to divide the spaces where you will write the data.   I used brown construction paper to frame this chart.  In all honesty, I wouldn’t have done it if I wasn’t planning on taking a picture of it.  If you want to do it, all I did was cut 2 brown papers into 4 rectangles each.  I glued all 8 rectangles onto the back of the white paper, making sure each stuck out about an inch.

Now that you have this great chart, keep it tucked away until your little ones take their first bites. Have them bite in, then before they go back for more, talk about where they bit! Pass your yummy cookies around to family members and neighbors, each time someone eats one make sure to record the data on your chart.

Questions(to ask your kids): “How many people ate the left leg first?”  “Which body part was eaten first more than any others?” “Which body part was eaten first less than any others?”

Tips(to maximize learning): 1.  Write out everything you can.  It may seem insignificant to add the words right leg, head, etc, on this chart.  Trust me, it is not.  Your little ones will learn to read by repeatedly being exposed to words.  2.  Big M asked “Can I write Mom?” Yahoo!  I hadn’t even thought of that.  If they want to add their own touch, let them.  You’ll notice Little M is still pretend writing, but I let her have a go as well.  3.  If you were to do this in a classroom you would easily have enough test subjects.  Since our 4 family members would not leave us with much to talk about, we gave a few away.  After reaching out to Grandma and Grandpa, we took a walk down the street and got the neighbors involved.

The poor gingerbread men lost their heads first at our house (7 out of 15)!  Leave a comment and tell us which body part went first at your house!

Use this gingerbread man activity along with Gingerbread Cookies, Gingerbread Man hunt and Gingerbread Art for a complete lesson plan.

The gingerbread man activity Linked up at