Reading is Sweet (like gingerbread)

Hi friends!

In December, we turn our school library into a sweet shop, with the theme that "Reading is Sweet." It's a festive theme, without referring to any specific holiday and aggravating someone.

This year, I started a new activity, since we had so much fun with our Pumpkin Patch. I gave the students a flyer, instructing them to read a book over the Thanksgiving break, then decorate the gingerbread person outline on the back of the page like a character from the book.

They can color, paint, or glue items onto the page. I used card stock for the copies to make them sturdy enough to handle the decorations. They can't glue food items on to the page. I don't want to attract bugs to the library!

I will give a spirit stick to each student who participates. You could also give a gingerbread scratch-n-sniff bookmark, or the gingerbread pencils from Oriental Trading as prizes.

I will display these colorful book cookies all over our library, and it will be a festive reading celebration, without much effort on my part. I may try to create a foil background to look like cookie sheets.

I love to show off student work and student book recommendations. I think it's an essential part of building a community of readers at our elementary school.

Just in case you'd like to try this at your school, I've uploaded my flyer as a freebie at TPT. It's not too fancy, but I hope you'll like it!