History of Gingerbread and the Christmas Connection

I have always wondered how gingerbread became so synonymous with Christmas so I looked it up and found some interesting information. Ginger was one of the major spices that were carried along the Spice Trade routes from India and China to Europe. (Think Marco Polo!) It is said that Queen Elizabeth I was fond of having her bakers shape the dough into caricatures of her favorite court guests. It might have been a bit unnerving to bite your own head off! Knights would receive a piece of gingerbread to bring them luck in jousting tournaments. Years later In Germany, gingerbread cookies were shaped like hearts and decorated with romantic messages. Nuremberg became known as the “gingerbread capital of the world” in the 1600s and bakers began creating elaborate masterpieces with these edible building blocks.

Gingerbread houses probably were inspired by the Brothers Grimm in 1812, when they wrote “Hansel and Gretel.” Children were intrigued with the witch’s cottage decorated with candy! Newcomers brought gingerbread to the United States and gingerbread houses became popular as Christmas decorations among German immigrants in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. They used gingerbread pieces to decorate evergreen branches they brought into their winter homes to add a touch of greenery. When Christmas trees made an appearance, gingerbread cookies were used as the first ornaments. Whatever its history I sure am glad this aromatic spice has become a part of our Christmas celebrations!

A Song about the Gingerbread Man – A Complete Retelling…and a Phonics Game

The story of the Gingerbread Man is a popular story for children to read in the month of December. That tricky fox outwits the hapless gingerbread man and ends up with a delicious treat! We created a song that retells the whole story….it really does! It is easily sung to the tune “Skip to My Lou”. Included are a big book with a mini-movie that turns the pages as we sing the lyrics. A fun Phonics game, The Cookie Jar Game, is included with CVC short vowel words and EDITABLE cards. Easy to play! Students will have so much fun they won’t realize they’re practicing reading words! Find this best selling product by clicking The Gingerbread Man Song!

GINGERBREAD SWIPE

One of our popular game formats is SWIPE. This fun game is easy to learn and will become a favorite one! Gingerbread SWIPE has Short I words on the cards but there are also EDITABLE cards included. Players turn over a card and read the word. Then they take turns reading cards until someone turns over a SWIPE card. Now they get to SWIPE a word card from any other player! It is all done with a joyful spirit, of course. Once someone turns over a Game Over card the game ends and the player with the most cards wins. Find the Gingerbread Man SWIPE Game here.

CVC Picture Sorts and More!

Phonics is one of the necessary tools for learning to read and this Gingerbread Fun Center activities packet is a great way to learn to read and write CVC words. There are mats with trees and pictures on ornaments to sort onto the correct Short Vowel sound mats. Interactive printables offer many opportunities to practice reading and spelling CVC words. Use the 36 cards with missing vowels to place around the room for a “Read the Room” activity or use the cards at a center where students turn the cards over and record their answers. (The cards are color coded so you can easily provide the correct recording sheet.) Need another phonics game? A path game has the vowels on the spaces. Students turn over one of the 40 picture cards and then move to the vowel that matches the vowel sound. The game comes in both Color and B/W versions. Find this 57-page packet HERE.

Here’s a FREE Phonics Game for you to try!

Here’s a fun way to practice High Frequency words…..a TicTacToe game! Players turn over a word card, read the word, then place their cover-up on the space on the gameboard that has that word. 3 in a row and you win! Students don’t need to know how to actually play TicTacToe with any strategy because the turn of the cards determines where they place their cover-up. The words on the cards have both CVC AND CVCe words but there are also EDITABLE mats and cards so ANY words can be added! Click GINGERBREAD SWEETS Tic Tac Toe to download this free game at our TPT store.

December can be a crazzzzzzzy month for teaching but by introducing some fun Phonic Learning games your students might actually learn a little bit in spite of themselves! Be sure to find some time sit down and sip some hot cocoa or tea and eat sweet gingerbread treats…and breathe!

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