Overview 
The children will help make Dan the gingerbread man as they recognize and produce words that rhyme with man, such as pan, tan, and fan. 

Literacy Activities
Make a tan gingerbread man 

• Invite the children to help you prepare the gingerbread mix as directed on the box.
• Have the children help roll out the dough and cut out a gingerbread man.
• Bake the gingerbread as directed on the box.
• Have children fan Dan the Gingerbread Man to cool him off when he comes out of the oven.
• Encourage the children to say a word that rhymes with man as they add a decoration to their gingerbread man.

Optional variation (If an oven is inaccessible):

• Print the gingerbread man graphic on tan paper.
• Put the gingerbread man graphic on a pan and pretend to bake the gingerbread man. 
• Have the children decorate their own gingerbread man graphic with crayons or markers while the other gingerbread man "bakes." 
• When the gingerbread man is "done," show the children the "man" on the pan and say, "He is tan."
• Give the children previously prepared gingerbread cookies (optional). 
• Pretend to fan the cookies as if they had just come out of the oven while chanting, "Fan, fan, fan, the tan gingerbread man!"
• Ask the children what words they heard during the activity that rhyme with man: pan, fan, tan.

Things I can do with the tan gingerbread man 

• Have the children do different actions holding the tan gingerbread man:
  • I can fan the tan gingerbread man.
  • I can ride in a van with the tan gingerbread man.
  • I ran with the tan gingerbread man.
  • I cleaned a pan with the tan gingerbread man.
• Review what the children did during the activity and ask them which action rhymes with man: fan, tan, or pan.

More Practice
Recognize rhyming words

• Have the children repeat a set of two words (e.g., tan, man).
• Ask the children to show you thumbs up if the words rhyme and thumbs down if the words do not rhyme.
• Repeat with other sets of words: (e.g., ban, can; Dan, fan; pan, cat; ran, van; plan, duck).
• If children do not respond correctly, repeat the two words, emphasizing the ending sounds of the words.  

Practice blending and segmenting sounds in words

• Have the children stomp and say the initial and rhyming sound of the word man then have the children jump as they blend the sounds:
  • say /m/ (stomp right), say /an/ (stomp left)
  • jump with both feet and say man
  • Repeat with other words that rhyme with man (e.g., man, fan, tan, pan).