The Craftiest Workshop

When I started my blog, I planned on including some preschool resources considering they have been a big part of my life for the last few years. These ideas are ones I have used a few times in the winter months and they really seem to engage children. Putting all my ideas for one theme in a post is also a good place for me to keep all my activities for that theme.

The winter months can be quite cold in Western Canada. There are often days where you cannot go outside. Having some extra activities centered around a theme can provide a distraction and keep children busy.

BOOKS

Books are my first consideration when planning as you can develop activities around a book. Jan Brett has some great resources on her website. I don’t always own the book I want to focus on but I can usually get it from our local library either on Hoopla or taking out the actual hard copy. If you search any of these books by their title and then “read aloud”, you can also find a youtube video of someone reading the story..

The Mitten by Jan Brett

I like to use these props while reading this book. Each animal is given to a child. When that animal enters the mitten in the book, the child brings up the animal and puts it in the mitten.

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The Hat by Jan Brett

This is a similar book to The Mitten.

It is good to use to get the kids to find the differences between the two stories.

One Mitten by Kristine O’Connell George

A good rhyming story

The Mitten Tree by Candace Christiansen

“The Mitten Tree” reminds me of the tree we set up one year at my kid’s school and added new gloves on it as many of the children did not have any.

SONGS & FINGERPLAYS

The Mitten’s on my Hands

^{(Tune of “The Wheels on the Bus”)}

My hat on my head keeps me warm (pretend to pull down hat)

keeps me warm

keeps me warm

My hat on my head keeps me warm

in the cold

My snowpants on my legs, keep me warm (pretend to put on pants)…

The boots on my feet, keep me warm (stomp stomp stomp)…

The scarf around me neck, keeps me warm (pretend to wrap scarf)…

My jacket on my body, keeps me warm (pretend to zip up)…

The mitten’s on my hands keep me warm (clap clap clap)…

Down at The Dollar Store

^{(tune of “Down at the Corner at the Bakery Shop”)}

^{This works great with a magnetic board.  Have coloured paper mittens with stick on magnets on the board. If you plan to use this more than once, use sticky laminating plastic over each mitten. Sing all the way down until there are no more mittens and each child has had a turn to go up and grab mittens.}

Down at the dollar store in the mall

There were number of children pairs of mittens hanging on the wall

Along came name of child all alone

He/She snatched up the colour mittens

And took them home.

Hat, Scarf, Mittens and Boots

^{(tune of “Head and Shoulders Knees and Toes”)}

^{**I like doing this one at a really slow speed in a low voice and then really fast in a high pitched squeaky voice.**}

Hat and Scarf

(touch head and shoulders)

Mittens and Boots

(clap hands and stamp feet)

Mittens and Boots

Mittens and Boots

Hat and Scarf

Mittens and Boots

Nice and Cozy

(Hug yourself)

In the Snow!!

(hands up and wiggle fingers)

Have you Seen My Missing Mitten

^{(sung to the tune of “Have You Ever Seen a Lassie“)}

For this one, give each child a coloured felt or paper mitten and when you sing their colour they return it to you. Examples: blue like the sky, yellow like the sun, green like a clover

Have you seen my missing mitten

my mitten, my mitten

Have you seen my missing mitten

I lost it somewhere.

It was in my pocket

It’s white like the snow

Have you seen my missing mitten

I lost it somewhere.

CRAFTS

I like to incorporate a craft in with the lesson. It gives the kids the chance to be creative, provides fine motor practice and gives them something to take home.

Stained Glass Mitten – pre-made mitten with construction paper outline and wax paper in the middle. Cut up tissue paper squares of a variety of colours for the kids to glue on. I suggest using cotton swabs for them to apply glue. With the example below, bingo markers were used to add another layer of colour (a wine cork dipped in paint would work as well).

Wooden mitten – Scrap wood mittens cut with a band saw for them to paint.

Decorate the Mitten – have them colour the mitten then adorn with cotton balls, yarn, and buttons. Glue the cut out mitten onto construction paper first to make more sturdy.

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GROUP ACTIVITIES

Activities done together that teach cooperation, taking turns, gross motor and self regulation (patience) while they also learn concepts like colours, counting, shapes and patterns.

Hide the snowball – cut out mittens of all the colours: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, white, black, grey. I used coloured foam. Cut out a round white circle. Sit in a circle and place all the mittens in the middle. Tell all the kids to turn around and face outwards. Put the “snowball” under one mitten. Get the kids to turn back around and let each child take a turn guessing what colour the snowball is under. The person who finds it then gets to hide it.

The Mitten’s on the Ground – using painter’s tape, create a large mitten on the floor; big enough to fit everyone into. This activity is sung to the tune of “The Farmer in the Dell“. It should be done after reading The Mitten so the children can make the connection.

The mitten’s on the ground

The mitten’s on the ground

Oh dear it’s cold out here

The mitten’s on the ground

_________burrows in

_________burrows in

Oh dear it’s cold out here

_________burrows in

For each verse you pick a different child and you can change the verb as well to hops, crawls etc and have them do the action to get there. The very last person to go into the mitten is the teacher and he/she plows in and “gently” knocks everyone out of the mitten.

Mitten match– I have lots of different material (thanks Mom). I cut out two mittens from each fabric. I made 17 pairs as preschool groups with two educators would be capped usually at 16. The last person would still have a choice of two sets. Using a basket, I placed all the mismatched mittens in the basket. I would choose a quiet friend and send them to the basket to find a match. When they brought it back I would ask them what colour the mittens are and what shapes are on the mittens. The group would count how many matches we had (each time the number would increase). If the kids would find this too easy, I would describe a set of mittens and see if they find the correct ones.

Winter Let’s Get Moving – this one is fun to do as a pretend exercise along with the kids. Both the teacher and children act out each of the movements.

SENSORY

Something for the kids to play with that allows them to feel, hear, see and smell. During sensory time, smaller groups would be formed and they would move to the different stations.

Playdough – light blue or white playdough scented with mint extract. I would offer mittten and snowflake cookie cutters plus some yarn, beads or sequins

Play dough Recipe

1 cup flour

1/2 cup salt

1 Tbsp cream of tartar

1 Tbsp vegetable oil

1 cup water

Mix dry. Add wet. Cook over med heat until a ball starts to form. Food coloring can be added while cooking to obtain preferred color. Add extract after you remove from heat.

Once ball has formed, dump onto parchment paper. Let cool slightly. If too sticky add flour until dough is a good consistency. Once cool, store in air tight container.

Sensory bin – The size of the container should reflect how many kids would be around it at one time. It should be shallow and clear plastic. You could put in rice, shredded white paper, mini marshmallows or cotton balls. I keep loose parts sorted by colour in these vegetable trays you get from the grocery store. Below are some of the loose parts I like to include in a winter sensory bin. Plastic letters (magnets removed for younger ones), marbles, pom poms, glass stones, poker chips with numbers on them, mini blue beer cups, blue measuring cups and white funnels. You could add some plastic animals to make more of a connection to the books.

Snow – If it is too cold to go out, bring in a cooler full of snow and let them wear their mittens and play in it. You can offer sand shovels or measuring cups. I suggest a vinyl table cloth underneath to keep the floor dry and plenty of towels to clean up melting snow.

Another option with snow is to give each child a foil tray with some snow. Give them a water colour paint tray and brush so they can decorate their snow.

There are so many ways to be creative in planning activities for children. If you get children interested in a theme through a book, they can be engaged all day when provided with interesting activities. They will be learning while singing, playing and creating.