Book themes:
       This book would work best with a baking, December, or senses theme.
 

Synopsis:
        The Gingerbread Man hops out of the oven and is chased by everyone who smells the delicious cookie.  Eventually, the Gingerbread Man is faced with crossing the water and the Fox offers him a way to get across. 

Before reading the story:
Ask the children to imagine themselves as a cookie.  Ask them to describe the kind of cookie they would like to be. 
Ask "How many words are in the title?"  Clap the number of syllables in 'Gingerbread'.

Reading the Story:
Encourage children to chime in and  help 'read' the the verse "Run, run as fast as you can, You can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread Man" with you each time it is in the story. 
As you are reading the trail of characters that are running after the man, pause briefly to encourage children to recall their names.

After reading the story:
Develop a family house for the 'an' family. (man, can, tan, ran, ....)
Brainstorm some animals that could chase the gingerbread man.  Let the children draw and color their own animal.  Complete the story frame: 
___Child's name__ 's   __(animal)__   ran after the Gingerbread Man.
Laminate each page and bind into a book titled 'Who Ran After The Gingerbread Man?' and place in the classroom library.
As a different version of the story is introduced and read, compare the characters, setting and resolution with a previous version in a Venn Diagram.

Literacy:
Give each child a gingerbread-shaped book.  On each page, children copy a different color word and draw/color matching buttons.
Make gingerbread men for sorting alphabet letters.

Math:
Measure the perimeter of a gingerbread shape with marshmallows. (Most of our gingerbread pals had 55-58 marshmallows around the edge.)
Encourage children to role play the parts in the following number rhyme.  I have 5 children hold gingerbread cookies (made from paper and rickrack), 1 child to be the baker and collects the real nickels, and 5 children to buy the cookies.  If I do it three times, everyone has a turn!!)

Five little cookies in the bakery shop
Shinning bright with sugar on top.
Along comes __child's name__ with a nickel to pay.
He/she buys a cookie and takes it away.
Next time, there are 4 little cookies, 3 cookies, etc.

(This is not my poem and I do not know the author.)

Prepare Gingerbread Pancakes and Gingerbread Muffins (made in a dixie cup) and let children record their favorite to be added to a class graph.
 

Art:
Use magic markers to make a gingerbread pal. (Save for man/boy graph.)
Use salt dough to make a gingerbread pal and decorate with sequins.
Make a frame in the style of Jan Brett to hold a self-portrait.
Use paint to make a Gingerbread House. (I ordered this cardboard house from Merle ....merle@sopris.net....on her web site http://www.recipes4learning.com The cardboard house had a pre-printed "spring"scene on it which I covered with white paint.  I, then, drew the pictures with  a  "gingerbread" theme.  It was not hard and only about 20% of the scene needed to be redesigned.)
 
 

Science:
Since the Gingerbread Man tried to cross the river and not get wet, ask the children to predict what would happen to a real cookie in the water.  Experiment with a shallow dish of water and 3 cookies.  Try leaving one cookie for 1 minute,  another for 3 minutes and the last for 10 minutes.  Ask the children to compare their results with their prediction.
 

Cooking:
Make a large gingerbread cake in a 9" x 11" cake pan.  (Usually, I buy 2 gingerbread cake mixes and the children help to make a double batch.  Then, we cook it 10 extra minutes.) After it has cooled, cut the cake into a gingerbread shape while the children are not looking.  On the next day, (close all the doors!!) reveal the gingerbread man and decorate it with whipped cream and jelly beans. (Usually, I have the can of cream and everyone has a jelly bean.  We place jelly beans in the cream for his eyes, nose, mouth, hair, buttons and decorations on his arms and legs.)

Other Books in association with Amazon.com:
The Gingerbread Man : An Old English Folktale by John A. Rowe 
Cajun Gingerbread Boy by Berthe Amoss (crosses the swamp on an alligator)
The Gingerbread Boy by Richard Egielski (takes place in Central Park, NY)
The Gingerbread Man by Eric A. Kimmel
The Gingerbread Boy by Scott Cook (very doughy looking boy--cute)
The Gingerbread Man by Jim Aylesworth  (the animals are dressed in clothing and standing upright--another great book for a Venn Diagram) 
Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett (fabulous ending with pop out gingerbread house)
Gingerbread Man by Pam Adams (the Gingerbread Man is on a string and moves through openings in each page-very cute)