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Thursday, January 15, 2009

The Mitten

The Ukrainian folktale, The Mitten, was introduced to my girls by my daughter's Cyber teacher. It is such a cute story about some curious woodland animals who were cold in the winter's snow and took shelter in a single mitten. I found it's simplicity delightful and my girls seemed to enjoy the fantasy in the folktale and discussing this story together. I came across the same folktale retold and illustrated by Jan Brett. If you haven't met Jan Brett's work, you are going to have to check her out. Her illustrations are amazingly detailed. I am looking forward to checking out Brett's version of this tale. After reading a different version of The Mitten, my girls created mittens to hold little animals that we printed out. Here are the directions for this simple project.

Mitten Craft
Materials: Construction Paper, Mitten pattern and animals, scissors, yarn, 3 whole punch, crayons, and a variety of craft materials

1. Print out the mitten pattern and animals. Have your child color or decorate the animals.(optional)

2. Help your child cut out the animals- they are very detailed. Cut out the pattern of the mitten. Trace or have your child trace the mitten onto construction paper. Put the paper next to another sheet of construction paper and cut out two mittens.

3. Three hole punch around both mittens.Let your child sew the mittens together with yarn. Help him or her tie the mittens. There should be a space open at the top to put the animals.

4. Next, decorate the mittens with a variety of craft materials. (pom poms, glitter, etc.)Let them be creative!!

5. Have fun acting out the story, The Mitten.

For more resources and ideas, visit the wonderful links listed below:

Jan Brett's Homepage
Mitten Theme Unit (Great for teachers, but also ideas for parents!!)
Mitten Animal Masks
Letter from Jan Brett
Other Books by Jan Brett
Lots and Lots of Activities!!!(Can't wait to explore this page more!)

Whew! Now there are enough resources for us to do a months worth of Jan Brett activities with our creative and curious kids!!

Have a fun day!! If you have snow- we have lots- enjoy!!

Jen
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7 comments:

  1. Preschool PlaybookFriday, January 16, 2009

    Jen, thanks for all the great ideas. I love both of them. Making a quilt with decorated squares sounds really neat. I appreciate the fun new ideas.

    My biggest problem at school is time. The 2 1/2 hours just fly by.

    We start activites for "The Mitten" next week.

    ReplyDelete
  2. ParentingPinkFriday, January 16, 2009

    Cute story & craft! Happy Friday!

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  3. Paula ReeceFriday, January 16, 2009

    My 4-year-old loves The Hat by Jan Brett. It's a wonderful story for practicing "predicting" as a reading comprehension skill with kids. And it's just plain cute! :)

    Thanks for visiting me! You have a great site with wonderful ideas!

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  4. LynnieSaturday, January 17, 2009

    We LOVE Jane Brett! Have you read The Snow Bears (or maybe it's The Three Snow Bears)? I LOVE the pictures of the mothers and babies on the sides! Her illustrations are just amazing.

    ReplyDelete
  5. JenSaturday, January 17, 2009

    I haven't! Can't wait to check it out. I didn't realize that she has created so many books until I visited her site. Take Care! Nice to hear from you,Lynnie.

    Jen

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousSunday, January 18, 2009

    great job we did a reading theme challenge of the mitten a few weeks ago it was fun! we love Jan Brett!

    ReplyDelete
  7. silly eagle booksWednesday, July 14, 2010

    Fun idea! I"m going to link this to my book/craft linky!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for commenting. Enjoy your day!