Gingerbread Man Exchange 2015: Sign-Ups Open

It's the most wonderful time of the year!  The holiday season is my absolute favorite time of the year in an elementary classroom.  The joy in the children's eyes is a daily reminder of why I became a teacher in the first place.

One of my favorite holiday activities during this time of the year is participating in a gingerbread man exchange with other classrooms from all over the United States.  This year I am excited to be hosting the second annual gingerbread man exchange.

What's a gingerbread man exchange you ask?  During the month of November, your class will create fifteen gingerbread men and decorate them in any way you would like.  No later than December 4th, you will mail 20 gingerbread men to other classrooms across the United States.  You will also need to include in the envelope a brief letter from your class telling about your school, the area you live in, etc.  This can be a letter that you write together with your students and simply make a copy to send with each gingerbread man.  Then, sit back and wait for the gingerbread friends to arrive at your school.  

Picture Courtesy of Growing in Pre-K via Pinterest

The kids can't wait to find out where each gingerbread man and letter is from and to read a little bit about the kids who sent it.  I like to display the gingerbread men and the letter with a map so that the kids can get a better idea of where each gingerbread man came from.

In past years, I have opened the gingerbread letters and shared with the class on the day that they arrived.  This year, I am planning to save all the letters and open them during a special Gingerbread Celebration.  We can snack on gingerbread cookies and hot chocolate while we open all the special letters to our class.  

Due to the postage expense, participating classrooms must be in the United States.  The gingerbread man exchange is also limited to kindergarten through fourth grade classes.  By signing up, you are agreeing to have your class create twenty gingerbread men and mailing them on or before Friday, December 4th so that they will arrive at their destinations in time to be enjoyed before the Christmas holiday breaks.  If you would like for your class to be part of this year's gingerbread man exchange, you can sign up by clicking on the image below.  

If you are interested, don't delay in signing up.  I ran out of spots very quickly last year.  The sign-ups will only be open for the next couple of days or until the maximum number of participants have signed up.  Once the sign-up period has closed, I will send out an email with more details to the participants.