Gingerbread Men From Wesley Travel The World

By Larissa Lytwyn

For many, the holiday season is a time for reconnecting with geographically distant friends and loved ones.

Kindergarteners at Wesley Learning Center recently had the opportunity to embark on such a festive journey, learning more about their country and the world around them along the way.

“Every year, the children make gingerbread men and a gingerbread village,” explained Wesley Learning Center Director Randi Rote.

The gingerbread unit helped the students learn about the functions of various places in Newtown that they replicated in their village, including Stop & Shop and the C.H. Booth Library.

Then, Ms Rote continued, “This year, I remembered an old children’s book, Flat Stanley, that told the story of a man mailing himself to his friends across the country. I thought we could try such a trip ourselves!”

Originally published in 1964, Flat Stanley, by late author Jeffrey Brown, introduces the character of Stanley Lambchop, a small boy who is flattened when a bulletin board falls on him. As the story progresses, Stanley decides he wants to visit his friends in California, but it is too expensive for him to travel by plane or train. Since Stanley is so flat, his family is able to tuck him into an envelope and deliver him via the post office to his far-away buddies!

While, fortunately, none of the Wesley children experienced Stanley’s fate, they were able to send individual mementos of themselves to relatives and family friends to places as far-off as Switzerland, Japan, India, and Germany.

The memento was a holiday greeting in the form of a cutout construction-paper gingerbread person modeled after the Wesley gingerbread village figures.

The children had fun decorating their merry little men and women with crayons, fabrics, and googly-eyes.

Then, each enclosed a cheerful note encouraging their recipient to send a postcard representing their state or country in return.

“It was a great, exciting time,” said Wesley teacher Jessica Lee. “All through the weeks of December, we were getting in postcards from all over the country, and all over the world!”

Several of the students even sent multiple messages.

Kindergartener Sarah Elizabeth Flint-Beale, who sent gingerbread men to countries including Australia and Puerto Rico, said she had emailed images of her little gingerbread figures.

“It was the first time I used the email like that,” she said. “It was fun getting back the [replies].”

Patrick Conte, another student, agreed.

“A friend [of the family] who used to be one of our neighbors [recently] moved to Japan!” he exclaimed. “It was really nice to send him a gingerbread man!”

“Doing this activity introduced the children to a number of very important skills,” said Ms Rote. “We were able to teach them geography, and little facts about the different states and nations they received postcards from.”

The postcards, hailing from states including California, Georgia, Tennessee, Flordia, Arizona, West Virginia, Washington, and Minnesota as well as Washington, D.C., were displayed prominently in the back of the classroom.

In addition, Ms Rote and Ms Lee helped the students identify the different places, from Kentucky to Switzerland, on a world map.

Many of the students said the activity had helped them learn many interesting facts about America. Cole Desroches, for example, said he had learned that Abraham Lincoln was one of the nation’s earliest presidents, through a postcard he received from a relative in Washington, D.C.

The children also learned that Washington, D.C. was located by the state of Virginia.

“In addition, the students learned the different modes of travel we use to get to different places,” said Ms Lee. She proceeded to ask the students how they could get to Florida.

Several of the children immediately shouted, “Airplane!” in response. A few more, including some that had actually traveled to the Sunshine State that way, said “car.”

To reach Switzerland, the students talked about how they could take an airplane or even a boat to cross the Atlantic Ocean.

“This activity was definitely a fun, fulfilling, and useful learning experience for the students,” said Ms Rote.

Perhaps it will become a new Wesley holiday tradition!