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California Kindergarten Association.

Rockin' Kindergarten for over 30 years!

Listening and Following Directions with the Gingerbread Man

Run, run as fast as you can to do this fun activity with your kids that’s as seasonal as it is educational.  CKA Treasurer and veteran Kindergarten teacher Heather Hardaway Morrow shares this great idea that offers opportunities to incorporate ELD, math and so much more!  Ready to try this with your students?  Scroll down to the bottom to download the PDFs.

Gingerbread Man Listen and Follow Directions

This Gingerbread Man template can be used in a variety of ways.  We used it as a listening and following directions activity.  These directions can easily be altered to match the level and needs of your students.  Here are some examples:

Focus: ordinal numbers and colors; one-step directions

Color the ______ Gingerbread Man ______.

(can be done in order or to work on ordinal numbers more, mix them up)

Example:

Color the first Gingerbread Man red.

Color the second Gingerbread Man yellow.

Color the third Gingerbread Man purple.

Color the fourth Gingerbread Man green.

Color the fifth (or last) Gingerbread Man orange.

Ask follow-up questions: (examples)

Which Gingerbread Man is yellow?

What color is the fourth Gingerbread Man?

Focus: ordinal numbers and basic characteristics; one-step directions

Draw a _______ on the ______ Gingerbread Man.

OR add a color word

Draw a (color) ______ on the ______ Gingerbread Man.

(can be done in order or to work on ordinal numbers more, mix them up)

Example:

Draw a (blue) hat on the first Gingerbread Man.

Draw (black) shoes on the second Gingerbread Man.

Draw a (green) shirt on the third Gingerbread Man.

Draw (brown) pants on the fourth Gingerbread Man.

Draw (purple) buttons on the fifth (or last) Gingerbread Man.

Ask follow-up questions: (examples)

What is the second Gingerbread Man wearing?

Which Gingerbread Man is wearing a shirt?

Which Gingerbread Man is wearing something on his head?

Focus: ordinal numbers and emotions; one-step directions

Draw a _____ face on the _____ Gingerbread Man.

(can be done in order or to work on ordinal numbers more, mix them up)

Example:

Draw a happy face on the first Gingerbread Man.

Draw a sad face on the second Gingerbread Man.

Draw a scared face on the third Gingerbread Man.

Draw a surprised face on the fourth Gingerbread Man.

Draw a tired face on the fifth (or last) Gingerbread Man.

Ask follow-up questions: (examples)

Which Gingerbread Man is sad?

Which Gingerbread Man shows how he might feel if someone shouted “Boo!”?

Why do you think the first Gingerbread Man is happy?

Challenge: multi-step directions (combine directions)

Example:

On the first Gingerbread Man, draw a (purple) hat and (green) shoes.

On the second Gingerbread Man, draw a sad face and black hair.

Color the third Gingerbread Man yellow and draw three (red) buttons.

On the fourth Gingerbread Man, draw (blue) pants and a (yellow) tie.

Draw a happy face on the fifth Gingerbread Man and (orange) mittens.

 

Ready to do this in your classroom?  Here’s an easy to print PDF of the Gingerbread Man Listen and Follow Directions, and one of the gingerbread man worksheet.  If you do use this with your kids, could you please let us know how it went?  We look forward to hearing from you!

 

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It's FEATURED TEACHER FRIDAY! Congratulations, Jamie Leigh Black Phillips! "Every year Ms. Phillips greets a new batch of kindergartners whose parents come from far away places. Additionally, more than a third of her students come from low income households. This requires Ms. Phillips to utilize every language and educational tool she can muster to educate the wee ones." This makes her the perfect candidate for Featured Teacher! Thank you, Jamie, for your dedication and caring. YOU make the world a better place🩵. Receiving this honor entitles Jamie to be entered for the opportunity to be CKA's TEACHER OF THE YEAR. Winner of the honor of Teacher of the Year wins a free CKC registration and will be recognized at #CKC2026. #ckalovesteachers #featuredteacherfriday ... See MoreSee Less

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❄️⛄️Tuesday Teaching Tip! Today's tip comes from @happytoddlerplaytime! We love this seasonal sensory bin idea! SNOW much fun!#TuesdayTeachingTipsg#ckalovesteachersch#sensoryplayyplay ... See MoreSee Less

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