Gingerbread Wreath

Toddler, Pre-K, K

I wanted to do a craft with counting, and since simple shapes are good for little ones, I knew cutting out several gingerbread patterns and counting them would be fun.

But, what to do with the shapes after we counted?

Well, why not make them look pretty?!

So, we counted as we glued them on to a wreath. Then, mommy sang a counting song as we glued. It was spontaneous, and my toddler cackled and cackled. I think it may have actually helped him. Isn't teaching fun!

To make this craft you need:

• 1 paper plate
• scissors
• brown construction paper
• scraps of color construction paper (optional)
• permanent marker

Cut out the middle of your paper plate to make a wreath. Use your brown paper to cut out gingerbread shapes. I did 10, which matches the song if you want to sing with your child too.

Let your child do the drops of glue and add the gingerbread on one by one while you count.

To reinforce the numbers I added bow ties to the gingerbread men and added the numbers 1-10. I also added eyes, nose, mouth and buttons. Be creative, but make sure the "men" are the way you want them *before* you glue them on.

Mommy's "made up" song...

One little, two little, three little gingerbread...
Four little, five little, six little gingerbread...
Seven little, eight little, nine little gingerbread...
Ten little gingerbread boys!