The Mitten Activity Pack

The Mitten Activity Pack The Mitten Story 2 ~ My version of the popular story ~ Write & Tell Your Own Story 3 ~ A template for creating your own version of this story ~ ~ PLUS my proven 3-step process to storytelling ~ Storytelling Setup 4 ~ Learn how to create a simple scene to accompany the story ~ Mitten Craft 5 ~ Your child can create their own mitten for play and storytelling ~ More Mitten Activities 6 ~ Use these ideas to expand on elements of the story ~ Hi there, Thank you for downloading this activity pack. The Mitten is one of my favorite winter stories and it lends itself to beautifully to a wide range of activities for children ages 2 and up. I hope you will enjoy the story and activities. And if you have any questions, please contact me at noreen@entangledharmony.com. For more stories and activities visit www.entangledharmony.com Happy Storytelling and Crafting, Noreen

O nce there was a boy named Nicki who loved to play in the snow. When the snow began to fall one winter s day, he asked his grandmother to knit him a new pair of white mittens. His grandmother looked at him and said If I knit you white mittens you will loose them in the snow and never Sind them again. I will knit you some red mittens. Oh, grandmother, would you please knit me some white mittens, begged Nicki. If I knit you white mittens you will loose them in the snow and never Sind them again. I will knit you some blue mittens, replied his grandmother. Oh, grandmother, would you please knit me some white mittens, he asked again. Well, well I will knit you some white mittens. She picked up her white wool and began to knit, knit, knit. When she was Sinished, she gave the mittens to Nicki. He put them on and ran out to play in the snow. First, he played in the freshly fallen snow and moved his arms and legs to make a snow angel. Then he threw snowballs and he even built a snowman. All that running around and playing made his hands very warm and he decided to take his mittens off. He put them in his pockets but it wasn t long before one of the mittens slipped out and quietly landed on the soft snow. Nearby a mole had been digging under the deep cold snow and when he poked his head out of the snow, he saw the mitten. It looked warm and cozy, so he decided to crawl in. Along came a rabbit, hopping through the snow. He, too, noticed the white mitten. He put his nose in and saw mole. Can I come in? rabbit asked. Mole wasn t sure at Sirst but then said, It is cold outside. Come on in. And in rabbit climbed. The mitten stretched a bit to make room for the two animals. A little while later, along come a hedgehog. He put his head in the mitten and saw mole and rabbit. Can I come in? hedgehog asked. Mole and rabbit weren t sure if there was enough room but then said, It is cold outside. Come on in. So, hedgehog climbed in. Next a big owl swooped down from the trees. She put her head in the mitten and saw mole, rabbit and hedgehog. The Mitten Adapted from a Ukrainian Folktale and Jan Brett s The Mitten Can I come in? owl asked. Mole, rabbit and hedgehog weren t sure if there was enough room but then said, It is cold outside. Come on in. So, owl climbed in. Then a badger came walking through the forest. He put his head in the mitten and saw mole, rabbit, hedgehog and owl. Can I come in? badger asked. The animals weren t sure if there was enough room but then said, It is cold outside. Come on in. So, badger climbed in and the mitten stretched some more. It wasn t long before a fox discovered the white mitten. He was curious and peaked inside. He saw mole, rabbit, hedgehog, owl and badger. Can I come in? fox asked. The animals weren t sure if there was enough room but then said, It is cold outside. Come on in. So, fox climbed in and the mitten stretched some more. Suddenly the animals heard a low growl. It was bear tromping through the forest. He put his head in the mitten and saw mole, rabbit, hedgehog, owl, badger and fox. Can I come in? bear asked. The animals didn t think someone as large as bear would Sit but then said, It is cold outside. Come on in. So, bear climbed in and the mitten stretched and stretched and stretched. Just then a mouse came along, scampering through the snow. She put her head in the mitten and saw, mole, rabbit, hedgehog, owl, badger, fox and bear. Can I come in? mouse squeaked. The animals looked at each other and agreed. If bear can Sit we can make room for a little mouse. So they said, It is cold outside. Come on in. The little mouse climbed in and the mitten only stretched a wee bit. Mouse snuggled in right next to bear s warm nose. As she wiggled in her whiskers tickled bear s nose. And suddenly bear went Ah Ah Ah Ah-choooooooo! and let out an enormous sneeze. All the animals popped out of the mitten and the snow-white mitten Slew off into the air. The wind carried the mitten almost all the way back to Nicki s house. When Nicki came back home from playing in the snow he saw the mitten laying in the snow. He picked it up and carried both his mittens inside. His grandmother was happy to see that he still had both of his show-white mittens. Though, she could never Sigure out why one mitten was so much bigger than the other. 2

Write your Own Story Main Character(s): Animals: Choose at least 3 animals for your story that get larger in size. 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8) Location: Think about where your main character(s) drop the mitten. (e.g. by the edge of the forest, near the pond or next to the farmer s barn) Story Notes That s right! Notes not an entire story. While you are welcome to write out the entire story, other parents have found it easier to only write down the main events of the story on index cards or a piece of paper. (e.g. boy drops white mitten, boy keeps playing in the snow, mole comes along and crawls into the mitten, rabbit comes along, and so on, mitten gets bigger and bigger, mouse comes along and mitten pops off, wind carries mitten back to boy, mitten is now much larger than the other mitten) Tell the Story Here is my proven 3-step process for storytelling: 1. Read the story by yourself 2-4 times over the course of at least 2 days. Use Jan Brett's version, my version or your own version. TIME: 5 minutes each day 2. Write down the list of animals and any other important parts that you don t want to forget - keep this as short as possible. You can use the template in the activity pack for this step. TIME: 5 minutes 3. Tell the story using your notes and props if you choose to use props (see next section) - rehearse this by yourself if you like or tell it to your child right away. TIME: 5-10 minutes IMPORTANT NOTE: DO NOT try to memorize the story word by word. It won t sound natural. You will be too focused on getting it right versus being in the moment with your child. Remember, they don t know the words that Jan Brett, myself or you wrote. 3

Storytelling Setup I always recommend using props to people that are just starting out with storytelling. It helps to take the focus away from the words a bit and makes the story Slow more naturally. That being said, some Sind that using props adds another challenge and they prefer to tell stories without props. Play around and see what works best for you. Setting up a scene for a story doesn t have to be elaborate. A few simple elements are often enough to help tell the story. Use the following ideas as inspiration to get you started and add in your elements. Story Props White fabric or felt for snow Trees, house and more I used some wooden trees and houses. Look around and see what toys and nature items you have that could be used as props for the story. And again, keep it simple. Your words and your child s imagination will Sill in the gaps. Peg doll or other doll for the main character Animals I used drawings that I colored for this story but generally prefer the Schleich animals or Ostheimer animals. Mittens I cut out two matching mittens from white felt and sewed one larger mitten from white fabric. An actual knitted mitten would be lovely. Here are patterns for the mitten and the animals, which look adorable. Knitting - For the actual knitting while telling the story, I had knitted a few rows in blue, red and white yarn. As I told the story, I Sirst took the blue yarn out of a bag and knitted for a moment as I told the story. Then I switched to the red yarn and Sinally to the white. If you don t know how to knit, you could also use two chopsticks or something similar and pretend to knit. After you have told the story to your child, leave the props out or store them in a basket for your child to use independently. Let them know that they can use them to tell the story or to play with them in any way they like and make up their own story. 4

Mitten Craft Materials card stock art materials for decorating (crayons, markers, paint, stickers, stamps, etc.) hole punch yarn and blunt needle Directions 1. Draw a large mitten on a piece of card stock and then trace it onto another piece of card stock to make a matching mitten. You can also print out this template from Jan Brett s website. 2. Cut out the mittens and then your child can decorate it with crayons, markers, paint, stickers, stamps, etc. 3. Punch holes all around one mitten. Next, hold the second mitten behind the Sirst one and punch through your original holes to create matching holes. 4. Cut a piece of yarn to about 4 feet and tie one end to one side of the mitten. Thread the yarn through a blunt needle (you can buy plastic blunt needles at a fabric store) and then show your child how to move the needle in and out of the holes. Remind them to pull the yarn all the way through. If the yarn slips out of the needle, it helps to wrap a short piece of masking tape around the eye of the needle to secure the yarn. 5. Print out one set of animal templates. Animal Set 1 Animal Set 2 6. Your child can color or paint them. When Sinished you can cover them with contact paper to make them last longer. More Ideas Matching Mittens - Fold a piece of paper in half, ask your child to add a few dabs of paint on one side and then fold the paper again to close it. Have your child rub all over the folded paper to smear the paint. Open up the paper and allow to dry. When dry, trace your child s hand on the white side of the paper and cut out while the paper is folded to create a pair of matching mittens. You can also cut out several smaller ones from one piece of paper. Watercolor Resist - Have your child draw all over the mitten with a white crayon. Older children can do patterns, snowslakes and other images if they like but even scribbles create a beautiful effect. Next, your child can paint over the entire mitten with thin watercolors. Watch the white image reveal itself! 5

More Mitten Activities Matching Game Do you have a basket full of mittens and gloves? Go ahead and dump them all out and see if your child can match them up. Hanging Mittens Tie string between two chairs or other pieces of furniture, add a basket of clothes pin and your child will be ready to hang those mittens to dry. Laundry Day Matching up mittens or socks after they have been washed is an easy way for children to help around the house. The feeling that they can contribute to family can be very powerful. When my children were little it was one of their favorite activities. Now, they are not always thrilled about doing it but they know how to do it well and have learned to fold and put away most of their laundry on their own. Hide & Seek "Now, where did all the mittens go?" Hide real mittens or ones you made from paper around the house and then ask your child to Sind them. For the next round, switch roles. A Home for Each Finger When my children switched from using mittens to gloves I always told them that each Singer now gets its own little cozy nook. Thumb goes in Sirst and then all the other Singers line up and slip into their own spot. It took the frustration out of getting all the Singers in their proper spot and my children would actively work on wiggling their Singers, which made the whole process a lot easier. 6 The Mitten Activity Pack Copyright 2017 Noreen Greimann All rights reserved. No part of this PDF may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the written prior permission of the author. You may print as many copies as you like for your own personal use. www.entangledharmony.com