Creative Children’s Book Project
There are few books as loved by kids as The Mitten by Jan Brett. Winter is a great time to read this beloved children’s book and do this cute craft with the kids in your care.
As you read the book the kids will love when a Ukaranian boy named Nikki loses his white mitten in the snow. All the animals in the forest snuggle into the mitten to get warm and cozy in the book. They enjoy the detailed illustrations and seeing what animal will snuggle into the mitten next.
Click here to print the templates to use after reading this most beloved children’s book.
You will need to use heavy stock paper. Have the children cut out two mittens (front and back) or provide the children with precut mittens. Help them punch holes around the outside of the mitten, except the bottom to make a lacing card. Allow the kids to lace mitten using under and over technique and tie the end in a knot. Have the kids decorate the mitten with art supplies using patterns and textures. Allow your to cut out the pictures from the story and store the animals inside the mitten. We pasted popsicle sticks to the back of the animals so the kids can use them as puppets as well.
The five-year-old I care for plays with this for hours and hours.
You can purchase your own copy of the book by clicking link below.
[…] Jan Brett’s luminous paintings of a Scandinavian farm and the forest around it are bathed in northern light, as the snow begins to fall and the story begins, in this delightfully original companion book to The Mitten. […]