Things to talk about while coloring
Gingerbread cookies get their name and their spicy taste from ginger, a root that grows underground. People have baked shaped gingerbread for hundreds of years, and many families still make it every December. Talk about the old story where the gingerbread man runs away, and ask how your child thinks it ends.
Coloring ideas
Light brown makes the cookie look freshly baked, and the icing zigzags on the arms and legs can stay white. Give the three gumdrop buttons three different colors, and swirl red and white on the peppermint beside him. For a pattern challenge, older kids can draw extra icing details like a bow tie or a smile on the hands and feet.
A little learning
Tracing the wavy icing lines with a fingertip before coloring is good warm-up for the up-and-down strokes kids use in early writing.
