Gingerbread Man Themed Lesson Plan Activities For Teletherapy
Any theme centered around a type of cookie is a win in my book. I love using the theme of gingerbread men in speech teletherapy before winter break!
But have you ever noticed that the gingerbread man story actually has nothing to do with Christmas or winter? In fact, it appears to be set during the spring or summer. #gofigure
However, the option to extend the theme beyond the story and into gingerbread cookie making is always a hit! If you want to incorporate this versatile theme into your speech therapy sessions this year, check out the slew of digital activities available to you!
Gingerbread-Themed Boom Cards
This Boom Cards deck contains 7 gingerbread man-themed activities, 3 of which relate to the story and the rest to making cookies themselves. With sections for so many goals including articulation, sequencing, story retell, verbs, following directions, vocabulary, and more, this deck is a go-to for my entire elementary caseload!
A Gingerbread PDF Activity
FREEBIE ALERT! This quick PDF download can be used to target positional concepts (with visuals!) by trying to find the hidden gingerbread man on each page! A perfect language activity that can also be used to fill a few minutes of time at the end of the session.
Books about Gingerbread
Search the following book titles/authors wherever you access digital versions of books (your local library, YouTube, websites, online stores, etc.).
Fiction
Obviously, The Gingerbread Man will be on repeat for the week.
Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett is another great fictional story for the theme!
The Gingerbread Pirates by Kristin Kladstrup is a story about a pirate gingerbread man that comes alive at night.
Non-Fiction
No Bake Gingerbread Houses for Kids by Lisa Anderson gives directions on creating graham cracker versions of gingerbread houses.
Let's Bake Christmas Treats! by Ruth Owen explains how to make many Christmas treats, including gingerbread houses and cupcakes (on pages 18 and 22, respectively).
Videos about Gingerbread
The Gingerbread Man by Jack Hartmann turns the popular story into a song.
How to Make Gingerbread Cookies shows the process of making gingerbread cookies from start to finish.
Amazing Gingerbread Houses is a compilation of clips showing how intricate gingerbread houses are made.
50 Amazing Gingerbread Houses is a slideshow of photos of detailed gingerbread houses.
This video shows how popular, movie-in can be used to target positional concepts (with visuals!) by trying to find the hidden gingerbread man on each page! A perfect language activity that can also be used to fill a few minutes at the end of the session.
This less than one minute video shows highlights from the National Gingerbread Competition in North Carolina.
Holidays at the White House documents how the White House's 2013 gingerbread house was made.
Cookie Boogie from GoNoodle (YouTube) is a quick, fun video with dancing gingerbread men.
Games and Activities
Elicit tons of language with this Make a Gingerbread House activity on ABCYa.com.
Jan Brett's website also has a gingerbread house-making activity that coordinates especially well with her book (listed above). You have the option to print it when you're done designing it digitally.
Spot the very subtle differences in the photos of gingerbread cookies in this article.
Digital coloring of a gingerbread man or gingerbread house is always a great reinforcer!
This memory game uses pictures of different gingerbread houses for the cards.
Reading Passages
Activities for Older Students
The Un-Christmassy Origin of Gingerbread Houses on Newsela details how gingerbread houses came to be a popular tradition.
White House Pastry Chefs Make National Mall in Gingerbread on Newsela discusses the gingerbread replica of the National Mall, as well as other White House Christmas decorations.
A fill-in-the-blank story (from this winter-themed set of Speech Libs) puts a hilarious spin on the world's largest gingerbread house and is sure to spark lots of discussion. It pairs perfectly with sound-specific lists of words for your articulation students!
Just pick a few of the above activities that fit the needs of your students, then sit back and forget about needing to plan for the rest of the week.
And if you're looking for more winter teletherapy lesson plans, download my FREE Google spreadsheet here, and check out more themed lesson plan blog posts!
