The Mitten Activities Preschoolers are Going to Love

These The Mitten activities are sure to engage and interest your students! They pair perfectly with these winter activities for preschoolers.

I’ve been teaching since 2001, and over the course of the years I have accrued many (many!) children’s books. Something tells me I’m not the only early childhood educator who’s done this!

While I have a hearty appreciation for a wide variety of books, I must admit I have my favorites. According to my students and my son, I have quite a few favorites.

These favored books come from how much my students have loved the books over the years. There are just certain books that seem to resonate with children, and I love watching the kids get wrapped up in a store.

Related: The Mitten Printables

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The Mitten Activities for Preschool and Kindergarten

Jan Brett’s The Mitten is definitely on my list of must-read children’s books.

I know I’m not the only one, as evidenced by some of the great emails I receive from Fun-A-Day readers. So I thought I’d put together a list of The Mitten activities you can use alongside the book.

Mitten Story Rocks

Years ago, I made these story rocks for some fun The Mitten activities with my preschoolers. My students were really into retelling activities, and I wanted to create a hands-on way for them to retell The Mitten.

Thus The Mitten story rocks were born. They have been going strong for years now!

Printable Early Reader

I love making books with preschool and kindergarten kids! They learn so many early reading skills, and they really feel like authors and illustrators.

This The Mitten printable emergent reader was well-received by the preschoolers! It worked on basic book skills, sight words, and was chock full of retelling practice. There’s a black-and-white version in addition to the color version.

Light Table Retelling

Still Playing School shares a fun way to retell The Mitten using a light table. I love how she uses transparencies to create the light table manipulatives.

There are even tips for alternatives if you don’t have a light table in your classroom.

Class Retelling of The Mitten

This activity from Teach Preschool would be perfect during circle time, or even during small groups and center time.

Use some masking tape and your classroom floor for this gross motor retelling of The Mitten. I can just imagine the giggles and conversation that will take place as a result of this activity!

Lacing a Mitten

Let the kids work on their fine motor skills with Powerful Mothering’s mitten lacing card idea.

I think this would be fun coupled with kid-drawn characters from The Mitten. This way, the kids could retell the story using their characters and their laced-up mittens.

Mitten Art and Matching Game

Toddler Approved and The Artful Parent share a fun combination of art and literacy to go along with The Mitten.

I love that they used multiple art techniques to create the mittens. The matching game made from the mittens is a clever way to work on letter and word knowledge in a way kids will enjoy.

Mitten Warmth Science

This mitten science experiment from Classroom Magic would be an awesome addition to any The Mitten activities you have planned. I know I plan on trying it the next time we explore the book.

I can imagine the kids’ predictions and their excitement at testing if mittens are warm or not. Talk about a meaningful, interesting learning activity.

Play Dough Retelling

Grab some play dough and toy animals for My Small Potatoes’ The Mitten retelling invitation. There’s just something about play dough that makes any activity even more fun!

Marble Painted Mittens

Let the children paint mittens using the marble painting technique.

You can grab the free printable mittens from Teaching 2 and 3 Year Olds, or you can use your own mittens cut from white construction paper.

Mitten Matching

Happy Hooligans shares a simple mitten-themed matching game that would be a great addition to your list of The Mitten activities.

You can use wallpaper samples, construction paper, or scrapbook paper for the game. Even better, add in some pairs of real mittens to extend the fun.

Now that I’ve shared 10 The Mitten activities you can try with your students, it’s your turn. What are some of your favorite activities to go along with The Mitten?

Mitten Materials

There are so many activities that go perfectly with a reading of The Mitten. There are so many, in fact, that you can plan an entire unit around the story. If that’s the case, you may want to invest in some materials to use during the unit, year after year.

Here’s a list of materials to get you started (I may get commissions for purchases made through links in this post):

There are so many items that can be used in the classroom for a theme based around the story, The Mitten. And this list is just the tip of the iceberg. It really depends on your class, their interests, and learning objectives. Whatever you decide to do, make sure the children stay engaged and have fun!

The Mitten Books

While I’m talking about Jan Brett’s The Mitten here, there are multiple versions of the story. Brett’s version, like the others, is based on a Ukrainian folktale. Add a compare and contrast lesson to your The Mitten theme!

More Learning Fun with The Mitten

Save time with a week’s worth of printable preschool lesson plans based on The Mitten. Includes ideas for literacy, math, science, etc., AND extra printables to support the hands-on learning activities. Two sets available, depending on whether you’re homeschooling preschool or teaching in a preschool classroom.

Find the plans at Preschool Teacher 101 | Home Preschool 101 | Teachers Pay Teachers

The Mitten printable preschool lesson plans

This set includes hands-on learning activities, book suggestions, and the following printables:

Character Patterning Cards
Character Word Cards
Letter Matching Puzzles
Number Mitten Matching Sets
Mitten Matching Math Sets (Numbers, Number Words, Dots)
Animal Size Ordering and Sorting Sets
Story Retelling Set
Mitten Shape Matching Set
Animals of The Mitten Science Journal
The Mitten Retelling Emergent Reader

Get the plans at Preschool Teacher 101 | Home Preschool 101 | Teachers Pay Teachers

The Mitten Activities Preschoolers are Going to Love