No Time For Flash Cards - kids crafts, books, and play

mitten craft

This fun little winter craft is simple to set up and fun for a wide range of abilities. You can make this a lesson about matching or textures, or you can just grab a hodgepodge of materials and let the kids create with wide open boundaries. I asked my daughter what she wanted to add to mittens and she looked at me like I was asking the dumbest question ever. Uh pom poms of course! I thought that would be a fun contrast between the smooth card stock and the soft squishy pom poms so I raced to get them before she changed her mind. I made my own mittens too because its much more fun to create with someone else. I urge you to try to avoid samples to show kids, crafts are limited enough already samples tend to limit childrens creativity even more. I choose to craft along side her adopting some of her ideas into mine to model collaboration from time to time.

Gather your materials. You will need some card stock, yarn, a hole punch, pencil, scissors, white glue, and whatever collage material you are using. I think the pom poms are awfully cute. mitten craft

Start by folding your card stock in half. mitten craft

Next trace or have your child trace their hand. mitten craft

Cut out and voila you have just cut out two mittens. cut out pom pom mitten craft

Decorate. I hadnt put out any markers or planned to have her draw but this is exactly why I love having all our materials within reach while we craft because she can grab what she wants to use. pom pom mittens craft for wintertime

Time to get the pom poms out and glue. pom pom mittens preschool craft

Add them to the card stock.

Can you tell she is upset in this photo? pom pom mittens countingShe had just counted all the pink pom poms and realized she was one short to have the same number on each mitten. A quick trip to the bathroom ( What? You dont store extra art supplies under your bathroom sink?) and I was back with a few more pink ones.mitten craft for kids Once they are all glued on let dry. mitten craft for preschool

Punch a hole in each and attach a string. mitten craft for kindergartenI cant help it I am going to add a warning that you all probably do not need but I cant help but include. Please please do not allow young children to play with anything with a string like this unsupervised. If your child wants to play with their creations simple skip the string all together. All our activities are meant to be made with adult supervision and involvement. mitten craft for winter theme

All book suggestions include affiliate links.

snow the mitten

The Mitten by Jan Brett is the perfect match for this craft and such a sweet book about a mitten that somehow keeps stretching as more and more animals crawl inside. That is until the bear sneezes! The illustrations are busy in a beautiful way that will have your children finding new things every time you read this book. The really amazing thing about this book is how it appeals to such a range of ages. My classroom of 2 and 3 year olds read this book the same week my son told me his had. Hes 8.

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