A Winter Craft Inspired by ‘The Mitten’

My daughters and I love Jan Brett’s books. One of our favorite winter books is The Mitten, which tells the story of a boy who looses one of his snow white mittens on a snowy winter day. Many rather large animals squeeze their way in the mitten, seeking warmth. On Jan Brett’s home page you can find many sweet printables and activity ideas. One is ‘Put the Animals in the Mitten’ and includes a mitten to print and all of the animals to fit inside. I printed off the animals but had a sewing project in mind for my 6 year old. Maybe you’d like to make one with (or for) your little ones, too.
Using wool felt I generously traced around her hand, cut out the pieces and pinned them together. I placed the first needle on the outside of the hand, several inches up from the opening to mark where she would begin sewing. You want to be sure there is plenty of room to fit the animals inside. Then we cut a piece of embroidery floss and she whip stitched the little mitten together. It’s great chance to practice hand sewing skills!

In the picture below you can see where I placed her starting pin and then she sewed all the way to the opening on the other side.

While she sewed her younger sister colored the animals from the coloring page. When she finished coloring I glued the whole sheet to a piece of paper board. I save them out from various purchased items but if you don’t have any you could always use a cereal type box. Once it dried I cut all of them out.

As the girls filled their mitten full of animals we sang a little song that I found here;

The Mitten
(Tune: The Farmer in the Dell)

The mitten on the ground,
The mitten on the ground,
Heigh-ho! It’s cold outside,
The mitten on the ground.
The (mole) snuggles in,
The (mole) snuggles in,
Heigh-ho! It’s cold outside,
The (mole) snuggles in.
(After the last animal, all pretend to sneeze and fall out of the mitten.)
Author unknown

Julie Hunter is a wife and mama, raising 3 spirited girls, two babydoll sheep, angora rabbits and a gaggle of chickens and ducks in the North Carolina Foothills. She spends her days at home, crafting with her children, homeschooling, taking long gathering walks in the woods and knitting Waldorf-inspired toys. You can find her blogging and keeping shop at This Cosy Life.