Heathrow Primary School
Heathrow Primary School
Week 5 - The Gingerbread Man
Our story this week was 'The Gingerbread Man.' We really lovely joining in with this book, especially to say “run, run, as fast as you can, you can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread Man.” We read different versions of the story and compared them. We decorated some of the characters from the story and made a speech bubbles for what the characters would say.
We had a phone call from the Gingerbread Man and he told us that he didn't like his story, he didn't want to be eaten by a fox! So he asked us to create our own new stories from him to choose from. We create a story together on the carpet and then create our own stories in small groups. We worked together to draw the story and wrote the initial sounds in words. We then signed it off with our names.
We were learning more about alliteration and we matching some of the items with the same initial sounds to make some funny alliteration phrases.
Our favourite part of the week was mixing our own dough and rolling it out to make our own gingerbread people. We used our motor skills to roll the dough out evenly to the correct thickness, we then used out cutters and had to carefully peel away the excess dough. We discussed the changes that happened to the dough in the oven and then again when they had cooled. We decorated our gingerbread people with icing that we used a 'glue' to place our buttons, our raisin eyes and our strawberry lace smile. We counted out each amount correctly and showed our, ‘ finger numbers,’ to match.
This week, the children took part in a fun and active game inspired by The Gingerbread Man! The children moved around our running track by walking, jogging, or running while chanting, “Run, run as fast as you can!” To make the activity even more exciting, we used traffic light colours to control how fast the children moved:
- Red – Stop
- Amber – Walk
- Green – Run
This activity helps to develop the children’s listening skills, understanding of instructions, and physical coordination, while also encouraging lots of fun and imaginative play.
The children enjoyed a fun outdoor challenge where they had to cross a pretend “river,” marked out with blue chalk on the ground. They were encouraged to think carefully about how to get across safely using a variety of equipment, including tyres, stepping stones, crates, and planks. This activity supported the children in developing their problem-solving skills, balance, and coordination. It also encouraged teamwork, as many children chose to work together to build safe ways across the river. A fantastic mix of physical activity, creativity, and imagination!
This week, the children focused on learning all about the number 5. They practised recognising the numeral, counting objects carefully, and matching the correct number to amounts. As part of our activities, the children sorted different objects onto two mats labelled ‘5’ and ‘Not 5’, helping them to understand what a group of five looks like. This supported their early maths skills and built their confidence in counting and number recognition.
The children had great fun using numbered gingerbread men to develop their counting skills. They practised recognising numbers and carefully counting out the correct number of gingerbread men to match each numeral. This hands-on activity supported their understanding of matching numbers to quantities, as well as building confidence in counting accurately.
The children took part in a fun science investigation to find out what happens when gingerbread gets wet. They observed the changes carefully and used their senses and vocabulary to describe what they noticed.
We discussed questions such as: Has it changed? Is it soft or hard now? and What do you think will happen in 5 minutes? The children made predictions and then observed as the gingerbread became soggy, soft, and began to crumble. This activity introduced early scientific thinking, encouraging the children to observe, predict, and talk about changes using new vocabulary such as dissolve, soggy, soft, and change.
This week in PSHE the children explored how to make safe choices, communicate with others, and think carefully about their actions. We looked at photos from our walk to the Post Box and talked about the ways we kept ourselves safe. The children talked about the weather and decided what clothing they were wearing to help keep them safe and comfortable, such as coats, hats, scarves and gloves. We talked about the safety features in school, such as the gate that doesn’t let strangers in, the zebra crossings, speed limits etc.
- Attitude
- Achievement
- Aspiration