Easy Activities for The Mitten for Kids with Free Printables
Looking for some easy, yet engaging activities to go along with Jan Brett’s The Mitten? This time of year, we always pull out this popular book about a young boy who loses his mitten, only for it to be found by some curious forest animals. Check out these hands-on activities to try when you read this wonderful book, too!
This is the classic children’s story based on the Ukrainian folktale. Jan Brett’s book is a staple in Early Childhood Education classroom during the winter months, and there are tons of fun activities to go with the book!
The Story of the Mitten
As a preschool teacher, I read The Mitten book every year in my classroom (and it’s on my list of favorite winter books here). Young children love reading this book and doing the activities that I make to go with it. Over the years, I’ve narrowed down the best mitten activities for this age.
These activities are pretty versatile, so they can go with just reading this book, a whole mitten unit, or more general winter activities. They’re a great addition to winter themed activities whether you read the book a lot or not.
Activity 1: Filling You Mittens
This activity goes right along with the book and all the winter animals that show up there! This Mitten activity is perfect anytime you read the book.
These are the free printables you’ll need: The Mitten and the winter animals
In addition to the printable, you’ll need a piece of construction paper (we used blue) to mount your mitten, scissors, and a glue stick.
Step-by-Step Instructions
First, cut out one large mitten on white paper. Next, use the glue stick to attach the white mitten to a piece of construction paper.
Letting your child use both the scissors and the glue stick on their own is a great way to build fine motor skills. If you’re nervous about the scissors, read all of our tips here.
Then, cut out all the animal cards. Lastly, have your child glue each animal onto the mitten in the same order that they appear in The Mitten story. We have the book handy for when we need to refer back to the proper order.
This is a great hands-on way to practice story retelling for kids as they tell you which animals go into the mitten. Story retelling is great for reading comprehension and literacy skills.
Activity 2: Mitten Matching
This next activity is a fun way to practice matching for young children. Matching activities allows hands-on fun while children are also working on cognitive development. The picking up and moving around of the mittens is also great fine motor practice.
For this simple activity, you’ll need different colored paper and scissors. We happened to have paper that was a winter weather theme, but you can just use construction paper, too.
Step-by-Step Instructions
First, you (or another adult) cut out a few pairs of mittens from different color paper. Then, mix all your paper mittens together, so the two identical ones are no longer together. Then, have your child find the matching pairs!
Help or encourage your child when they get a little stuck and the goal is to create a matching pair of mittens, so congratulate them when they do! I have the kids just arrange them on the table in small piles, so we can use the mitten cutouts again. But you can also glue your matches onto construction paper.
Activity 3: Colored Mittens
In the book, the young boy has white mittens, and that’s why they get lost in the snow. But I ask the kids to take a closer look at their own mittens, and almost no one has white. So, we make a small book about all the different colored real mittens you can have.
For this activity, you’ll need this free printable: The Mitten Colors Printable. You’ll also need scissors, a stapler, and crayons/markers/paint.
Step-by-Step Instructions
After you have the paper printed out, have your child cut out each mitten square. Then, they can color each mitten according to the color on the card. Coloring the mittens can be done by any method you prefer, such as crayons, markers, or even painting.
Lastly, staple them together. Now they can flip through their very own mitten books!
The Mitten Fun
I hope you end up loving this book as much as my kids and me with these activities to help! It’s become one of my favorite children’s books, and a staple during the winter season. My grandson, who’s three years old, likes doing these activities, but they are great for preschool and kindergarten students, too!
