Gingerbread Man Tour

I wish I had pictures of this but don't...only my story to tell.  One of the best ideas I've seen for the first day of school for kindergarten is to take a Gingerbread Man Tour.

1. Email/notify the staff that you will be doing this so they can help.
2. In the classroom, read The Gingerbread Man story
3. Tell the class that you had heard that the gingerbread man was at school that day and that you'd were going to go find him.
4. Head to the main places in the school:  office, library, bathrooms, cafeteria, music room, etc.   Ask whoever is there if they've seen the gingerbread man.  They should respond that you "just missed him."  Many people enjoy joining in on the fun.  "Did he have buttons down his front and have brown skin?  Oh, he just went down the hall towards that way."  
5. After having toured the school in search of the gingerbread man and introduced the kindergarteners to whoever you meet along the way and also the main parts of the school they'll need to know about, you end up back at your class for gingerbread cookies for all.

You can add extension activities galore.  HERE is a link to make a mini book that could go home that day.