Gingerbread Man runs as fast as he can, kids track him in school

"Run, run as fast as you can! You can't catch me. I'm the Gingerbread Man!" The classic fairy tale has been a part of children's literature for well over a century and continues to be used as a fun story in classrooms around the country. Most recently, one Elementary School added a bit of a twist to the classic idea to get their students involved in learning more about their school. Here's the latest on this fun tale as the Christmas season approaches.

What's the story?

"The Gingerbread Man" is a fairytale that came about in 1875. It's also known as "The Gingerbread Boy" or "The Gingerbread Runner." In the original story, a gingerbread man cookie is able to leap from a woman's oven as it tries to escape the perils of being baked alive.

The woman tries to chase him down to no avail, with others getting involved in the hunt, including farm workers and animals.

As he runs from his pursuers, Gingerbread Boy taunts them with a rhyme suggesting he can outrun all of them and nobody has the ability to catch him. For the most part that holds true for the cookie being, who is able to escape the majority of those chasing him down. A sly fox is able to finally capture the Gingerbread Boy and eats him alive with the poor cookie proclaiming "I'm all gone!" as the fox enjoys its last bites of the tasty treat.

Students track Gingerbread Man

According to Pike County Courier, one elementary school class enjoyed a retelling of the classic tale with an added change toward the end of the story.

A kindergarten class at a Delaware Elementary school heard several different stories of the Gingerbread Man. In one story, he suddenly escaped from the book itself to run away from the hungry fox. That led the students on their own sort of Gingerbread Man chase around the school.

The exercise was used to help the class learn more about their school by navigating to the most important areas on the premises.

These included the nurse's office, the main office, library, front door, and of course, the cafeteria. It's unknown if the students were able to gobble up the Gingerbread Man once they got to the cafeteria, but it was said that a great time was had during the exercise.

This seems like a great way to get kids into the spirit of a classic fairytale.

As the latest year has flown by, soon more and more students will be assisting their families at home in baking up their own Gingerbread cookies, whether they are Gingerbread men, boys, or houses ready to be devoured by guests celebrating the Christmas or holiday season!