Gingerbread Man Matching Circle Time Activity

Last Updated on August 14, 2025 by Sheryl Cooper

Inside: Work on colors and numbers with this fun gingerbread man matching circle time activity. Children love using props as they match the pieces!

The gingerbread man theme is popular in December, and I schedule ours the first week after Thanksgiving.

I put together a simple circle time printable for two and three year olds that invites them to match their gingerbread men to the same color house.

There is also an option to use the numbered pieces for some math, too!

Not only can this be used at circle time, but it can also be an independent or small group activity.

Gingerbread Man Matching Circle Time Activity

Circle Time with Younger Children

Before I share more about this specific activity, I want to take a moment to talk about circle time itself.

I get a lot of emails and messages from frustrated two and three year old teachers who say their students will not sit through circle time, or that they don’t want to participate.

I understand. I felt the very same way for many of the earlier years of my teaching career.

So I started paying attention to why they weren’t into what I was doing and I realized they needed to be more engaged.

It wasn’t all about sitting there listening to me.

THEY needed to be more involved. So I started using props, inviting the children to participate.

It made all the difference.

I asked my talented daughter, Rachel, to create printable props that I could use with my students, and these can be found in my TPT shop.

I look forward to using them during many of our circle times!

Watch: My Secret to a Successful Circle Time

Gingerbread Man Matching Circle Time Activity

Watch the video:

Supplies

Gingerbread men and houses, plain and/or numbered (from our Gingerbread Man Packet)
White Cardstock (Heavy Paper)
Laminator
Laminating Sheets

Preparation

First, you will need to decide if you are doing the color matching activity or the number matching activity.

With my two year olds, I do the color matching. (And perhaps the number matching from 1-5.)

Our three year olds class does the number matching activity.

Color Matching Activity Prep:

Copy a full set of the labeled colored houses.
Make enough copies of the colored gingerbread men so that each child has one (and all of the colors are represented).
Cut out and laminate for durability.

Number Matching Activity Prep:

Copy the full set of numbered houses.
Make enough copies of the numbered gingerbread men so that each child has one (and all of the numbers are represented).
Cut out and laminate for durability.

Watch: Favorite Gingerbread Circle Time Activities

The Gingerbread Man Color Matching Activity

Place the full set of colored gingerbread men on the carpet in the middle of the circle time area.
Give each child a different colored gingerbread man to hold.
Invite the children to help you identify the color of each house.
Tell them that now they are going to match their gingerbread man to the same colored house. (I like to go first to model how it’s done.)
When all the gingerbread men are matched to their houses, once again invite the children to help you name each color.

The Gingerbread Man Number Matching Activity

Place the full set of the numbered gingerbread men on the carpet in the middle of the circle time area.
Give each child a different numbered gingerbread man to hold.
Invite the children to help you identify the number on each house.
Tell them that now they are going to match their gingerbread man to the same numbered house. (I like to go first to model how it’s done.)
When all the gingerbread men are matched to their houses, once again invite the children to help you name each number.
You can also identify the colors!

Gingerbread Man Number Matching Circle Time Activity

Small Groups

Do the same as above, but depending on the size of your group, each child might need more than one gingerbread man to make sure all of the colors/numbers are represented.

Table Activity

You can do a simple matching activity by putting the gingerbread men on the table with matching colored jumbo buttons. The children match the button to the same colored gingerbread man.

You can also:

Place the numbered houses or gingerbread men on the table and provide some sort of counters, such as pom poms or buttons.
The children recognize the number on each one and place that many pieces on top.