Gingerbread Exchange

My class is having a ball participating in a Gingerbread Exchange with other kindergarten classes around the US (and Guam and Australia)! Each student created a gingerbread boy/girl (one kid made a pirate) along with a letter to be mailed to a student in another state. They then receive one from them. When we get the letter we map it on our display (so far we have 12/25 gingerbread kids). The students are learning where some states are (albeit I must make it relate to them: i.e. Florida has Disneyworld, New York is where the penguins from Madagascar the movie is, Idaho is where Mr. Potato Head is from in Toy Story, and their favorite is Texas...where Sandy the Squirrel from Spongebob is from). They don't understand how far their mail has traveled, but they are simply thrilled to receive letters! This is my first year participating and I plan on making it a permanent tradition. If you've never done this, I highly recommend it for next year!