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Gingerbread Math Activities

November 28 By Linda Kamp Leave a Comment

gingerbread math activities for primary students-Data and graphing activities for first and second grade.

If you’re looking for some hands-on December math activities that tie in well with a gingerbread man unit or your holiday lessons and projects, I have some fun ideas for gingerbread math activities that your class will love!

Decorating for Data

Decorating gingerbread man cookies to generate data is a yearly favorite and can be done using real gingerbread cookies or a construction paper cut-out. This data and graphing project begins with making a glyph.

Looking for some gingerbread math ideas to add to your December math or Christmas activities? This post has ideas for 1st and 2nd grade teachers with lesson activities for data and graphing, making gingerbread man glyphs with real cookies or a paper cut-out, and a cute pop-up card craft for writing word problems. Ideal for first and second grade kids.

We generate data by decorating our cookies, real or paper, according to a glyph key. Each item represents something about the child who made it.

Here’s a fun December math activity for data and graphing starting with a gingerbread man glyph. Use real cookies or a construction paper cut out to make the glyphs. This post has lots of graphing ideas for first and second grade teachers that make a great addition to your gingerbread man unit or Christmas activities.

I  have students put their name on the back of the paper or the plate, then mix them up and pass out a new glyph to each child. Students draw and interpret their (secret) classmate’s glyph.

Here’s a fun December math activity for data and graphing starting with a gingerbread man glyph. Use real cookies or a construction paper cut out to make the glyphs. This post has lots of graphing ideas for first and second grade teachers that make a great addition to your gingerbread man unit or Christmas activities.

Here’s a fun December math activity for data and graphing starting with a gingerbread man glyph. Use real cookies or a construction paper cut out to make the glyphs. This post has lots of graphing ideas for first and second grade teachers that make a great addition to your gingerbread man unit or Christmas activities.

This example shows a paper glyph version. I like to include a writing element for students to explain how they determined their answers.

Gingerbread man data and graphing ideas for Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade teachers. Making gingerbread man glyphs then taking one “bite” and graphing the results is such a fun and high engagement December math activity and a great addition to your Christmas activities.

After interpreting a friend’s glyph, students pass the glyph back to it’s maker. We get ready to graph by having students take one bite of their cookie or snip off a “bite” with scissors. We then create a class graph depicting which body part everybody bit first.

Which bite did we eat first? class graph/anchor chart. Gingerbread man data and graphing ideas for Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade teachers. Making gingerbread man glyphs then taking one “bite” and graphing the results is such a fun and high engagement December math activity and a great addition to your Christmas activities.

Students add a card to the correct category. Afterwards, they show the data on the class graph in 3 ways by making a tally table, pictograph, and a bar graph.

Gingerbread man data and graphing activities for kids- First and second graders used graph chat cards to discuss the data on their graphs.

Small groups of students use graph chat cards to discuss the data on their graphs. They compare and analyze their graphs by solving addition, subtraction, and comparing problems as well as answering questions about their data.

Animate Your Glyphs Using ChatterPix

Want to send your kids over the top? Animate your glyphs. I’m telling you, your class will love it!

Looking for some gingerbread math ideas to add to your December math or Christmas activities? This one will send your engagement factor soaring! See how we used the ChatterPIX app for 1st and 2nd graders to record themselves explaining the data on their gingerbread man cookie glyphs before taking one bite and graphing. This is such a fun and high engagement December math activity for first and second grade!

ChatterPIX is one of my favorite apps to use in the classroom. It can be used in so many ways and for every subject. It’s a great one for having students give facts about a topic or a key figure in history, interpret a glyph or graph, and to justify their thinking or explain a strategy they used to solve a math problem. It is so much fun for kids and it never fails to send the engagement factor soaring! I’ve used ChatterPix for math while teaching shapes and used it as an extension activity for opinion writing. The possibilities are endless.

https://aroundthekampfire.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/GB1.mp4

The ChatterPIX app is quick and easy to use on an iPad. After downloading the app, take a picture of the student’s cookie. Next, the student records their voice as they interpret and explain what each item represents on their glyph. It is so much fun and has become a must-do during our gingerbread math activities.

Gingerbread Man Glyphs

Some years I find that I don’t have time to scout out gingerbread man cookies so we make construction paper glyphs instead. If you are looking for real cookies though, I’ve found the larger ones at lots of places over the years. Michael’s, Ross, Marshall’s, Joanne Fabrics, and Sam’s Club have all had them and sometimes I can find them at my local grocery store. I’ve even had parents volunteer to bake them in the past.

Gingerbread man data and graphing ideas for Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade teachers. Making gingerbread man glyphs then taking one “bite” and graphing the results is such a fun and high engagement December math activity and a great addition to your Christmas activities.

When using paper glyphs I have students use a pair of scissors to snip off one “bite” before graphing. One good thing about using paper glyphs is that they make a great December bulletin board hanging around your class graph. I’m all for an easy hallway display!

I’ve combined all of these activities in an easy-to-prep resource with multiple versions of the student pages for Kindergarten, first, and second grade. It also includes all of the chart parts to make the graph plus a 1-page color and cut version of the gingerbread man glyph in case you’re low on construction paper or want to keep it simple.

Gingerbread math glyph and graphing activities for Kindergarten, first, and second grade.
click to learn more

I save this graphing project for the last week of school before break and have done it a few different ways. I’ve used real cookies some years and construction paper cut-outs in other years. Either way you go it is always a huge hit. Some years I’ve made it an afternoon long activity. Other years I’ve split the activities between two afternoons. It depends on my class and what else we have going on.

Gingerbread Math With Pop-Up Cards

This next idea is an easy one to add to your gingerbread math activities. Pop-up cards are simple to make and can be used in lots of different ways in the classroom. All you need is a sheet of copy paper to get started.

Gingerbread math activities for first and second grade. Students make pop-up cards then write, solve, and illustrate gingerbread man themed word problems. Ideal for December math lessons for 1st and 2nd graders. Directions for making a pop-up card included in the post.

These pop-up cards are a fun way for students to write, illustrate and solve word problems in any grade level. Teach students to make their own with these steps:

All About Me pop up cards - An easy, no prep back to school activity for getting to know you!

  1. Fold a sheet of paper in half
  2. Make two cuts about 1 inch long in the middle of the fold.
  3. Open the paper and push the cut section to the front.
  4. Make a crease at the end of each cut to form a box.

Gingerbread math activities for first and second grade. Students make pop-up cards then write, solve, and illustrate gingerbread man themed word problems. Ideal for December math lessons for 1st and 2nd graders. Directions for making a pop-up card included in the post.        Gingerbread math activities for first and second grade. Students make pop-up cards then write, solve, and illustrate gingerbread man themed word problems. Ideal for December math lessons for 1st and 2nd graders. Directions for making a pop-up card included in the post.

And there you have it! I hope these gingerbread math activities help you out during December and add fun to your holiday lessons. If you like them, why not share with other teachers? Go ahead and pin them on Pinterest or share on Facebook.

Looking for some gingerbread math ideas to add to your December math or Christmas activities? This post has ideas for 1st and 2nd grade teachers with lesson activities for data and graphing, making gingerbread man glyphs with real cookies or a paper cut-out, and a cute pop-up card craft for writing word problems. Ideal for first and second grade kids.           Gingerbread math activities for first and second grade. Students make pop-up cards then write, solve, and illustrate gingerbread man themed word problems. Ideal for December math lessons for 1st and 2nd graders. Directions for making a pop-up card included in the post.

Looking for gingerbread literacy ideas? See How the Gingerbread Man Turned My Readers Into Thinkers in this post. Find ways to keep everybody engaged and still learning in ‘Twas The 5 Days Before Christmas Break…  Need Easy Parent Gift Ideas? I’ve got you covered!

Happy teaching! Be sure to stay up to date and subscribe to our newsletter! Get new posts, helpful teaching ideas, and exclusive freebies sent straight to your inbox!

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    Filed Under: Christmas, Holidays, Math Tagged With: Christmas, data and graphing, December, gingerbread, MATH

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