I love The Mitten adapted and illustrated by Jan Brett! It isn’t a Montessori-style book, but it’s a beautiful, classic children’s story. I used free printables to prepare Montessori-inspired activities to go with the book … perfect for winter or a woodland animal theme.
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Free Mitten Printables and Activities for Preschoolers-First Graders
The Mitten is one of my favorite children’s books for winter. Jan Brett’s version of the story is a beautifully illustrated, Ukrainian tale that’s perfect for themed activities!
The Mitten Lacing, Sequencing Cards, and Putting Animals in the Mitten
The Mitten Lacing, Sequencing Cards, and Putting Animals in the Mitten
For this activity, I used the Put the Animals in the Mitten (mittens PDFs) from Jan Brett and the sequencing cards from The Mitten Printables (kindergarten add-on) from Homeschool Creations. This would be perfect for a table featuring a few activities for The Mitten.
I put two activities on a large plastic tray from Montessori Services. The mitten printables could be used to create a lacing activity with the mitten left open at the top to put the animals in the mitten.
Before putting the animals in the mitten, the child could place the sequencing cards on a rug in the order from the story. I put the layout on a large hemmed work rug from Montessori Services.
After the sequencing cards are placed in the proper order, the child could put each of the animals in the mitten.
The Mitten Roll and Graph Game
The Mitten Roll and Graph Tray
Preparing the Mitten Roll and Graph Game
This activity uses water beads, which are fun for many ages. The Mitten Roll and Graph Game uses The Mitten Printables from 1+1+1=1. For roll and graph games, children can roll the dice and color in the graph, but you can also create a fun hands-on game that’s perfect for fine-motor coordination. The Mitten Roll and Graph Game has a 1-5 version and a 1-10 version.
To make the cube, I printed out the cube on cardstock, cut it out, and put it together with glue before adding clear packing tape as a laminate and a way to seal the cube.
Water beads are wonderful for the pincer grasp. I wouldn’t recommend using water beads for this particular activity for a child who has difficulty with fine-motor coordination and becomes frustrated easily, though. The water beads require fairly good fine-motor coordination skills and tend to move around easily. For children who have quite good coordination and would enjoy a challenge, I think the water beads are a fun addition.
I’ve read that it’s good to keep the water beads completely covered in water so they don’t get moldy. I added a bowl of water beads covered with water to the activity. If you have the cardstock graph laminated and leave a laminate edge, it’s fine for it to get wet from the water beads.
Ideas for Playing the Mitten Role and Graph Game
Even though the game is cooperative, you can still use it to teach sportsmanship. At the end of the game, the children could shake hands with each other and say, “Good game!”
It’s helpful for children to learn the social etiquette for games without the emotions involved in winning and losing. Hopefully, that will make it easier for them to remember to show good sportsmanship during an actual competitive game.
You’ll find more ideas on creating cooperative games here: How to Use Cooperative Games to Teach Sportsmanship.
“Where Is the Mitten?” Book-Making Tray
“Where Is the Mitten?” Book-Making Tray
This activity uses a printable from The Mitten Printables (kindergarten add-on) from Homeschool Creations. I didn’t add glue to the tray, although you would need to add glue if you don’t keep your glue in a central location. It’s a great cutting activity, gluing activity, simple reader, and activity focusing on positional words. It’s easily adapted for children at various levels.
Animals in The Mitten Book-Making Tray
Animals in The Mitten Book-Making Tray
For this tray, I used The Mitten Unit and Lapbook Printables by Kelly Cooper and Ami on Homeschool Share. This is a fun cutting and gluing activity as well as a way to learn more about the animals in The Mitten.
More Woodland Animal Printables and Activities
You’ll find lots and lots of free woodland animal printables and Montessori-inspired woodland animal activities here.
Free Mitten Printables (of all kinds) for Preschoolers-First Graders
- Tell Your Own Mitten Story from Jan Brett
- Tell Your Own Mitten Story Animals from Jan Brett
- Design Your Own Mitten from Jan Brett
- The Animals of The Mitten Masks from Jan Brett
- The Mitten Letter Mazes from 1+1+1=1
- The Mitten Sudoku Puzzles from Homeschool Creations
- The Mitten Printable Packs from Royal Baloo
- The Mitten Characters Printable from Pre-K Pages
- The Mitten Printables from Making Learning Fun
- Mitten Lacing Card from Snow Learning Pack (Tot Pack) from 3 Dinosaurs
- Smitten with Mittens from First Grade W.O.W.
- Mitten Printables from Teachers Pay Teachers (LOTS of mitten printables)
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Thanks for linking to 3 Dinosaurs! I love that new Snow Learning Pack!
Thanks for sharing. Your information was valuable and plentiful!
Fantastic activity! Thanks so much for the #free #printables and fun idea!
Love the Mitten ideas! Pinned it to come back to and thanks for sharing at TGIF!
I always love seeing what you’ll come up with next! Thank you for linking up to the After School Link Up!
Thank you for the fantastic printables!
Thank you for stopping by the Thoughtful Spot Weekly Blog Hop this week. We hope to see you drop by our neck of the woods next week!
Love the book “The Mitten.” Thanks for all of the great links too. Pinned.