I’m sure all of you have had the pleasure of seeing two mittens/gloves leave the house and only one return. This week, our Family Night Activity is simple and can be used to remind the kids that two are better than one.
Matching Mittens
Materials needed
Colored construction paper or poster board
Scissors
Varity of art materials (markers, crayons, stickers, ribbon, glue, sequins/glitter)
Optional: left over tissue paper or wrapping paper from the holidays
You will be creating a pair of mitten/gloves. Have the kids pick out two pieces of construction paper. Have them draw one mitten/glove (draw the mitten/gloves so it takes up most of the paper). Have the kids cut out both mittens/gloves. Allow them to decorate their mittens using the variety of art materials. See who can make the best matched pair. You can add some more fun by making enough pairs for a countdown to a special day in January (ie: someone’s birthday, Super Bowl, special dinner with each child, or any other special date). The kids can number the fingers and tear off one each day of the countdown. Another idea is use each hand to practice addition, subtraction and multiplication. We would love how you used your hands.
Mitten Match-Up Game
Find all the mittens or gloves in your home. You will be playing a hide-n-seek game. Hide one of the mittens/gloves and the other will go to your child. When you say go, have the kids look for the other match of their mitten. Explain to them that they are only finding their match. Make it more exciting by timing the kids search.
Suggested Conversation Starters (these are just ideas and can be altered depending on the ages or developmental stages of your kids)
Go around and ask each child what they liked best about the winter season. You may want to lead off with your own favorites to help get the thoughts flowing. It is a great idea to warp up the conversation with some thoughts about what is important to you, not just in winter but all year long.
Suggested Movie Titles
Bolt
Snow Puppies
Ratatouille
These movies are just suggestions. If you would like additional information about the story or the content, you can visit www.kids-in-mind.com.
Suggested Bed Time Stories/Reading
The Mitten by Jan Brett
The Snow Dude by Daniel Kirk
Poppleton in Winter by Cynthia Rylant