After a little boy loses his mitten in the woods, all the forest animals want to snuggle inside where it is warm.

Materials

• Mitten page colored and cut out
• Twin size sheet or blanket
• Food coloring
• 4-5 eye droppers or small spray bottles

Vocabulary

• Wool (a material, not leather)
• Snuffling (sniffing around)
• Commotion (a hubbub or disturbance)
• Talons (the sharp fingernails on birds)
• Muzzle (the nose of an animal)
• Stretch (to have elasticity to make it expand)

Introducing the Story

Talk to the children about all the different articles of clothing that people wear to stay warm on snowy cold days. Make a graph to see which children like better, mittens or gloves.

Science/Scientific Knowledge; develops growing awareness of ideas and language related to attributes of time and temperature.

Reading the Story

As you read the story, note the side pictures to the story. Show the children that the picture on the right shows which animal will be next to climb into the mitten. Can the children name the animal that will come next?

Literacy/Book Knowledge & Appreciation/demonstrates progress in abilities to retell and dictate stories from books and experiences; to act out stories in dramatic play; and to predict what will happen next in a story.

After Reading the Story

Act out the story using a large bed sheet as the mitten. If you have more children than animals in the story, make up a few extra so everybody can squeeze under the blanket (into the mitten).

Literacy/Book Knowledge & Appreciation/demonstrates progress in abilities to retell and dictate stories from books and experiences; to act out stories in dramatic play; and to predict what will happen next in a story.

Music and Movement

Sing The Mitten Song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHiiVQL3NIU

Thumbs in the thumbhole, fingers all together

This is the song we sing in mitten weather,

When it is cold, it does not matter whether

Mittens are wool or made of fine leather.

Thumbs in the thumbhole, fingers all together

This is the song we sing in mitten weather.

Language Development/Listening & Understanding/ demonstrates increasing ability to attend to and understand stories, songs , and poems.

Give each child a real or paper mitten. With their mitten play a listening game. Ask the children to put their mitten behind them, beside them, in front of them, on top of them, under them, and on them.

Mathematics/Patterns & Geometry; builds an increasing understanding of directionality, order, and position of objects, and words such as up, down, under, over, top, bottom, inside, outside, in front, and behind.

Have the children sit in a circle. Hand one mitten to a child. Begin to sing or chant “We will pass the mitten from me to you to you, we will pass the mitten and that’s just what we’ll do”. Each time you pass the mitten, ask the children to help you think of new ways to pass (behind your back, over your head, as fast as you can, under your knees, etc.).

Approaches to Learning/Reasoning & Problem Solving; develops increasing ability to find more than one solution to a question, task, or problem.

Discovery

Bring your cylinder shaped blocks to science today as well as a hand full of rubber bands. Show the children how to wrap the rubber band around by stretching it round and round the cylinder. Make sure to monitor any children who put things into their mouths. Depending on the size rubber band you are using, the children can also wrap them around small boxes, toilet tubes. You could also challenge them to rubber band two blocks together.

Science/Scientific Skills; begins to participate in simple investigations to test observations, discuss and draw conclusions, and form generalizations.

Blocks

Add animals to the center today, also a small scarf or doll blanket. Watch to see if the children act out today’s story even if different animals are used.

Literacy/ Book Knowledge & Appreciation; demonstrates progress in abilities to retell and dictate stories from books and experiences; to act out stories in dramatic play; and predict what will happen next in the story.

Art

Cut out large mitten shapes to put at the easel today. Add some Epson salts to your tempera paints. As the paint dries on the paper, it should make tiny crystals that sparkle.

Creative Arts/ Art; begins to understand and share opinions about artistic products and experiences.

Sand and Water

Put snow in the table today. Encourage the children to put their mittens or gloves on and play in the snow using sand molds and measuring cups. Can you make a snow castle?

Physical Health & Development/Fine Motor Skills; develops growing strength, dexterity, and control needed to use tools such as scissors, paper punch, stapler, and hammer.

Put snow in the table today and give the children cups filled with water and food coloring. Show them how to use an eyedropper and suction up some colored water and squirt it onto the snow. (I recommend using red, yellow, and blue-primary colors). You can also fill spray bottles with food coloring and water to spray onto the snow. The colors drip into the snow and form new colors as they combine.

Science/Scientific Skills & Methods; begins to use senses and a variety of tools and simple measuring devices to gather information, investigate materials, and observe processes and relationships.

Library and Writing

Give each child a mitten shape cut from a piece of copy paper. Encourage the children to draw a picture of an animal that crawled into the mitten. It can be one from the story or one of his or her own choosing. After they have drawn their animal, write, “A _________ squeezed into ______ mitten!” (A bear/cow squeezed into Roger’s mitten!) These can then be put together to make a classroom wall or stapled together to make a classroom book; The Amazing Mitten Stretch.

Literacy/ Book Knowledge & Appreciation; demonstrates progress in abilities to retell and dictate stories from books and experiences; to act out stories in dramatic play; and predict what will happen next in the story.

Dramatic Play

Add hats, scarves, mittens, and gloves. Encourage the children to pretend to dress up warm on a cold winter day.

Creative Arts/Dramatic Play; participates in a variety of dramatic play activities that become more extended and complex.

Math and Manipulaties

Ahead of time, decorate the pairs of mitten page with each pair being different. Cut them out and put into a bowl or pile. The children match the pairs of mittens. These can be decorated from simple to more difficult depending upon the age of the children.

Mathematics/Patterns & Measurement; begins to make comparisons between several objects based on a single attribute.

Outdoor Play

If there is snow on the ground, practice throwing snowballs at a target.  If not, use bean bags.

Physical Health & Development/Gross Motor Skills; demonstrates increasing abilities to coordinate movements in throwing catching, kicking bouncing balls, and using the slide and swing.

Transitions

Play Bigger Than, Smaller Than. Say, “I’m thinking of an animal that is bigger than a ___________”. The child must name an animal that is bigger. Do this with smaller than also. (Bigger than a horse, bigger than a mouse, smaller than a cat, smaller than a rabbit, etc.).

Approaches to Learning/Reasoning & Problem Solving; develops increasing abilities to classify, compare, and contrast objects, events, and experiences.

Resources