this toddler tuesday is coming atcha with an extra cup of coffee, blurry pictures in jams with toddlers picking their noses…cheers!
it still feels like we’re catching up from the big flu strike so forgive me while i get back into the swing of things!!

i had to share one of our favorite activities that we’ve been doing almost daily that i made from my preschool teaching days…the mitten! this was always a fan favorite in my classroom and the girls have been more than excited to explore, play, read and retell the story and even mills gets in on the action!
i could go on and on about the benefits of this type of activity but to sum it up this is SO great for kiddos to repeat over and over again and they will very quickly gain confidence in their ability to retell a story!

materials:

the mitten by jan brett
mitten {can make out of felt or print off!}
animal printable

jan brett is one of my favorites and if you’re not familiar with this author, she is crazy talented and also is a brilliant illustrator. the kids LOVE these books because the illustrations help them to ‘read’ the book as well as forecast what is to come next in the story.

book summary:
the mitten is a bestselling modern classic that has been a family favorite for over 25 years. when Nicki drops his white mitten in the snow, he goes on without realizing that it is missing and one by one, woodland animals find it and crawl in finally, a big brown bear is followed in by a tiny brown mouse and what happens next makes for a wonderfully funny climax.

i typically introduce activities like this by laying out the materials and letting the kids explore as they want. this activity, i leave in our reading corner and let them play. the girls usually look at the materials and will look through the book.

after they have explored, we talk about the characters in the book and what animals they might read about. one by one, we list the animal and lay it on the floor. then i will read the story and the kids take turns putting the animals into the mitten. when it’s time for the sneeze, one of them dumps the animals out back onto the floor.
we’ve read this story at least 25x by now and i frequently will find the girls reading the story and putting in the animals in by themselves. it’s a great quiet activity to complete independently or we do it together!

you can extend this activity by talking about animals, putting the animals in order from smallest to biggest, and even retelling the story without the book. the options are endless but above all else, have fun!!