Building gingerbread (or graham cracker) houses is one of my family’s favorite Christmastime traditions–the more elaborate and candy-laden, the better. But this year we opted to change up our family tradition a bit by following a Gingerbread Man story theme–complete with baking and decorating giant Gingerbread Men.

The kids had so much fun decorating (and eating) their gingerbread men that I created this fun Gingerbread Man Printable Craft–adaptable for the beginning or experienced gingerbread man decorator, and loaded with plenty of non-sticky, sugar-free sweets.

Create Your Own Gingerbread Man Craft

You’ll need:

• Gingerbread Man Printable Template
• white paper or card stock
• crayons/markers/paint
• scissors
• glue
• (optional) black marker
• (optional) colored card stock or patterned paper

Download and Print the Gingerbread Man Craft Template

Download the Gingerbread Man template and print on white paper or cardstock. We prefer cardstock as it makes the craft sturdier, especially when using markers or paint.

Color or Paint the Gingerbread Man Craft Template

Color or paint the Gingerbread Man template pieces. My kids love any excuse to get out the paint, but crayons or markers work great too!

Cut the Gingerbread Man Craft Pieces

Cut around each template piece.

Assemble the Gingerbread Man Craft Pieces

Assemble the gingerbread man by decorating any way you’d like! I included lots of “candy” pieces in the printable so kids can decorate to their creativity’s content. Some will want to go all out, while others keep it simple. That’s the fun part of decorating gingerbread man (and building gingerbread houses), and of this craft–no right way or wrong to assemble them! I love seeing the creativity that emerges when they’re given free reign with various shapes.

Embellish With Marker

If desired, add marker details and embellishments.

Mount Your Gingerbread Man for Display

When finished, mount your gingerbread man on a piece of colored card stock or patterned paper and display all season long.

Gingerbread Man Flannel Board Fun

This gingerbread man template also works well as a pattern for creating kid-approved felt board manipulatives. Such a fun way to keep the kiddos creatively and constructively busy!

Lay the template on top of your felt, and cut the shapes from the pattern. Assemble felt pieces with fabric or hot glue, or leave felt pieces loose for kids to build and rebuild {name of craft} on a flannel/felt board.

This Printable Gingerbread Man Craft Template is now in the Craft Template ARCHIVE along with many more free craftivity templates available to subscribers. Simply add your email to the list and you’re in!

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