OUR STORY
At Get Up And Go Gingerbread Joe® we believe the best stories aren’t just read…
They're experienced.
Through playful storytelling, hands-on activities, imagination, and joyful family moments, our mission is to help children fall in love with reading while creating memories they will treasure for years to come.
What began as a magical classroom tradition has grown into an interactive reading adventure for your family, school, preschool, play cafe, kid party, literacy night, and more.
and it all started with one very mischievous gingerbread man...
Meet Lou ("Mr Lou") & Tami Santini
Together, Lou and Tami created
Get Up And Go Gingerbread Joe Adventures
to help families unplug from screens, connect through story and play, and create meaningful memories children will carry with them long after the last page is turned.
Lou Santini, "Mr. Lou" is a former educator & parent of five amazing daughters and proud grandparent to (so far!) four exuberant grandchildren.
A 2010 nominee for Michigan Teacher of the Year, Lou spent 25 years as an elementary teacher and reading specialist, teaching primarily Kindergarten and First Grade students. Throughout his teaching career, Lou became known for transforming learning into unforgettable experiences that sparked imagination, participation, and joy.
His educational philosophy was simple:
Children learn best when they don’t just hear the story… they live it.
Every year, one classroom tradition became the highlight of the school year:
The Gingerbread Man Story Adventure
His students didn’t simply hear the story — they became part of it!
They baked and decorated their own gingerbread man, then joined the adventure as he sprang to life, ran away, left mischievous clues behind, and inspired a
school-wide adventure filled with clues, traps, imagination, and laughter.
Get Up And Go Gingerbread Joe™ connects children & story with emotion, imagination, movement, baking and storytelling to make reading magical. developing a love of reading while creating an experience they will never forget.
That classroom experience eventually inspired Lou and his wife Tami to create Get Up & Go Gingerbread Joe™ — a playful new spin on the beloved gingerbread tale designed to bring literacy adventures into homes, schools, and communities everywhere.
The Heart Behind Gingerbread Joe 🍪
Tami Santini is a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, and lifelong nurturer with experience caring for children as a nanny and caregiver.
Although her professional journey led her to become a successful business owner, her heart has always belonged to children, creativity, music, and family connection.
In fact, one of the reasons Get Up & Go Gingerbread Joe™
has its playful sing-song rhythm is because:
“Tami always carries a song in her heart wherever she goes.”
The Heart Behind Gingerbread Joe 🍪
Tami Santini is a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, and lifelong nurturer with experience caring for children as a nanny and caregiver.
Although her professional journey led her to become a successful business owner, her heart has always belonged to children, creativity, music, and family connection.
In fact, one of the reasons Get Up & Go Gingerbread Joe™
has its playful sing-song rhythm is because:
“Tami always carries a song in her heart wherever she goes.”
🍪 How Gingerbread Joe Was Born
Someone once asked me:
“What did you enjoy most about teaching Kindergarten?”
My answer?
The Gingerbread Man.
Let me explain…
During my 25 years as a teacher and reading specialist, I was always searching for ways to help children fall in love with books, reading, and imagination. One of the best ways to do that was by bringing stories to life through all five senses: seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, and smelling. And year after year…
The Gingerbread Man became pure magic.
Every December, I would read different versions of the classic gingerbread story to my students. Then together, we would make a gingerbread man of our very own. We mixed him. We baked him. We decorated him carefully. And the excitement in the classroom was almost too much to contain.
But when we returned from recess or gym class, ready to enjoy our delicious gingerbread treat… he was gone.
Our gingerbread man had RUN AWAY. Cue the tears, shock, gasps, and dramatic reactions. (Okay… mostly from me. 😭) Soon we would discover taunting notes taped to the walls, frosting smudges on desks, sprinkles in the hallway, or candy clues left behind during his great escape. Every day, the class searched the school for him. Sometimes we thought we spotted him darting around a corner…
…but he was always too fast to catch.
Until finally, one clever student would always suggest:
“We should build a trap!” 🪤
Why didn’t I think of that? 🤦🏻♂️Together, we brainstormed the perfect plan and built what we believed was an inescapable gingerbread trap. Before heading home, we baited it with sugary treats and placed it somewhere quiet where no gingerbread man would expect danger lurking… the principal’s office. And sure enough…
The next morning, our gingerbread man had finally been captured! The classroom would erupt in cheers as we celebrated our victory by immediately eating his feet so he could never escape again. But something bigger was happening during all of this. The students weren’t just hearing a story.
They were living it.
The Gingerbread Man experience became one of the most memorable parts of the school year for so many children — and for many of them, it helped spark a genuine love of reading.
Years later, I still remember reading one student’s end-of-year writing assessment.
The prompt was:
“What was your favorite thing you did in Kindergarten?”
Her answer?
The Gingerbread Man.
And that moment stayed with me.
It’s what inspired my wife Tami and me to create Get Up & Go Gingerbread Joe™ — a playful new twist on the classic gingerbread tale designed to spark imagination, encourage joyful reading, and create lasting family memories.
Our hope is that Gingerbread Joe fills your home with laughter, adventure, and shouts of
Years later, I still remember reading one student’s end-of-year writing assessment.
The prompt was:
“What was your favorite thing you did in Kindergarten?”
Her answer?
The Gingerbread Man.
And that moment stayed with me.
It’s what inspired my wife Tami and me to create Get Up & Go Gingerbread Joe™ — a playful new twist on the classic gingerbread tale designed to spark imagination, encourage joyful reading, and create lasting family memories.
Our hope is that Gingerbread Joe fills your home with laughter, adventure, and shouts of
"Can we do it again?!"