The Gingerbread Man Loose at Christmas Book and Ornament

The Christmas tree is up, but bare.  It’s time for our yearly family tradition to begin.

Since my oldest son was two, we have let the kids make the ornaments for the tree.  Each year, our tree is full of handmade ornaments making it different and special each season.  This year, our tree will also include lots of ornaments inspired by Christmas books for kids.

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I’m so excited to be a part of the 10 Days of a Kid-Made Christmas for a second year in a row.  Last year we choose The Legend of the Poinsettia and made this beautiful poinsettia ornament. This year, we choose to create an ornament for The Gingerbread Man Loose at Christmas by Laura Murray.

THE GINGERBREAD MAN LOOSE AT CHRISTMAS BOOK

The kids at school decide to say, ” thank you,” with cards and gifts for different community workers.  The Gingerbread Man ventures out with the class because he has someone special to express his thanks to this season.  When the students return to class, the Gingerbread Man continues to his destination where he meets the baker who created him.  He expresses his gratitude and she helps his crumbly wet feet feel better with a pair of brand-new chocolate dipped boots.

HOW TO MAKE GINGERBREAD MAN ORNAMENTS

Materials Needed: flour, salt, allspice, water, gingerbread man cookie cutter, straw, parchment paper, cookie sheet, acrylic paint (red, white, black and dark brown), think paint brushes, red and white ribbon 

Make the gingerbread salt dough.  Stir 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1 cup salt and 2 TBSP allspice together.  Add 1/2 cup water and stir to combine.  We needed to add a little extra water to make it a play dough consistency.  Roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thickness.  Using the cookie cutter, cut your gingerbread men.  We were able to get 16 gingerbread men from our dough.  With a straw, poke a hole on the top of each ornament.  Place on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet.  Bake at 200 degrees for 3-4 hours.

When the ornaments are cool, you are ready to paint the little guys.

Some of us chose to paint our men to look like the character from the story.

Just like in the story, we had a little pot of chocolate (dark brown paint) to dip the gingerbread men feet in to create boots. Allow to dry and then hang with ribbon.

There are many more book inspired ornaments to inspire your decorating this year.  Check them out below.

P.S. For more great book recommendations and  literacy ideas, we send out a weekly newsletter. You can see a sample here.  If you like what you see, sign up to receive it for FREE each week.