Mitten Craft

About this resource

A mitten craft with one big patterned mitten to color, cut and glue, plus a match-the-pairs cut-and-glue page, get-dressed steps in order, a warm or cold sort, a finish-the-pattern page, a chant and winter-day writing on three levels, in one print-and-go PDF for PreK to 2nd grade. It is a book-free unit: no story is needed.

The craft is one big mitten with a snowflake, a zigzag band, hearts, stripes and a dotted cuff, on a snowy background. It is cut into 9 equal squares in three columns and three rows, so every cut is a straight line and there are only a few cuts. Children color the black-and-white pieces (or use the ready-colored set when coloring is not the goal that day), cut them out and glue each piece on its faint twin. Every glue box is exactly the size of its piece, and the nine pieces make the whole picture. A picture step page shows every step with one short sentence, and a small finished model sits on the page so a child can check their work.

Then the mitten goes to work. On the match page children cut 5 right-hand mittens, each in a different color from its twin, and glue each one under the printed mitten with the same pattern (stripes, dots, zigzag, hearts, snowflake). On the get-dressed page they cut 5 cards, glue four steps in order (put on your coat, put on your boots, put on your mittens, go out the door) and put the card that is not a winter step in its own box. On the sort they cut 8 picture cards and glue each under warm things or cold things. A design page has a blank pair of mittens to color so they match, and a finish-the-pattern page has 5 rows of mittens to continue and color, plus a sixth row of blank mittens to make your own pattern. Our own original chant, five short lines with a picture for each, gives you something to say and clap together. Three writing pages are about a winter day: trace and draw, fill in the sentences with a word bank, or write freely. A speech-bubble page asks what the mitten says. Every student page has one short instruction with a picture and a "My name" line.

What'S Inside

• Start Here: how the craft works, a note on the pairs, steps and sort, the three levels and a five-day plan
• Meet the mitten: the finished picture with 7 labels (thumb, cuff, snowflake, zigzag, hearts, stripes, dots) and 4 word pictures
• A word bank page: 6 words (mitten, snow, snowman, igloo, cocoa, penguin) to trace and write on handwriting lines
• Our chant: five lines, each with a picture
• The mitten craft: a picture step page, 9 pieces to color and cut, the same 9 pieces ready-colored, and a glue page with the 9 twins
• Match the pairs: 5 printed pattern mittens, 5 glue boxes and 5 mittens to cut
• Get dressed: 5 cards (4 steps and 1 that does not belong) and 5 glue boxes
• A warm or cold sort with 8 cards and 8 glue boxes
• Design a pair of mittens, with 4 sentence starters
• Finish the pattern: 5 rows of mittens, 2 blank mittens to color in each row, and a sixth row of 6 blank mittens to make your own
• Winter-day writing on three levels (trace and draw, fill in, write freely) and a speech-bubble page
• A "Who Did What This Week" class data page, with the answers
• A family letter to send home
• A credits page (font and art license)

21 pages in all, 16 of them for students.

Cutting Built For Small Hands

Every cutting page has big squares or cards lined up edge to edge: 2.1 inches for the picture pieces, about 1.5 by 2.8 inches for the mitten cards, 1.45 by 2.3 inches for the step cards and 1.9 inches for the sort cards. 36 pieces to cut in all (9 black-and-white pieces, 9 ready-colored pieces, 5 mitten cards, 5 step cards and 8 sort cards). You will need crayons, scissors and glue sticks. Card stock suits the craft pages.

Three Skill Levels

A small shape beside the name line marks the trace page (circle) and the write-freely page (triangle); the fill-in page has none. Easier: trace and draw, or a partner who holds the glue stick. Harder: writing freely and the speech-bubble page.

Who This Is For

Preschool, PreK, kindergarten and 1st to 2nd grade classrooms, self-contained special education classrooms, and paraprofessionals who want a winter mitten craft with matching, patterns and writing attached, ready to print.

What This Is, And What It Is Not

A printable PDF (print and cut). It is not Google Slides, Docs or PowerPoint, and it has no fillable fields. It is not a book companion and uses no book's characters or pictures. It makes no claim about any student's age or rate of progress. The sort is a talking activity: change a card if your class sees it differently.