The plain outline does two jobs
The simplest design is a single gingerbread man with nothing inside the body. Children draw their own icing, buttons and face, which turns a colouring sheet into a design task and produces thirty genuinely different results instead of thirty attempts at the same picture.
Printed on 160gsm card it also cuts out well, so the same sheet works as a template for felt, salt dough or a paper chain of linked figures.
Icing patterns and older children
The patterned designs have piped scrollwork along the arms and legs and a scalloped edge. The gaps are deliberately narrow, which makes them a reasonable pencil exercise for a child of seven or eight and a quiet task for an adult.
If you want the patterned look but easier, print a patterned design at the heaviest line weight. The thicker outline widens the gaps slightly and the result is much more forgiving.
Pairing with baking
If you are baking, print the plain outline at 100 percent, cut it out and use it as a dough cutting guide. It is a sensible size for a standard baking tray, and the trace lines show children where the icing goes before they commit to a piping bag.
Questions
- Can I use the gingerbread man outline as a cutting template?
- Yes. Print it at 100 percent scaling on 160gsm card and cut around the outer line. It holds its shape well enough to draw round repeatedly for felt, dough or paper.
- Is there a gingerbread house to colour as well?
- Yes. One of the seven designs is a decorated gingerbread house with a roof of tiles, a sweet-lined path and two windows. There is also a separate gingerbread house cut-out template if you want to build one.
- How big is the gingerbread man on the page?
- A single figure fills most of an A4 or Letter sheet at about 22cm tall. Choose the two or four per page layout if you want smaller figures for tags or a paper chain.
- Are these free for classroom use?
- Yes. Print as many as your class needs at no cost. The only restrictions are that you cannot sell the sheets or host the PDF files elsewhere.