Mitten week is a great time in preschool to learn left hand and right hand. In my preschool class the students are reading and learning about The Mitten book by Jan Brett.

We traced mittens on a sheet of paper and labeled each one with left hand and right hand. Then the students made a handprint with paint on the correct mitten.

During mitten week, the preschool students used their math skills to sort mittens by size. They sorted the mittens into groups of small, medium, and large mittens.

The preschool students worked their young finger muscles during mitten week. We set up a clothesline with a rope hung between two chairs. The students gathered all of their mittens and gloves (labeled with their initials, of course, so the mittens/gloves could be returned to the correct student). They worked to hang each mitten/glove on the clothesline by holding the mitten on the clothesline and pinching the clothespin to attach it to the line.

This is a great exercise in fine motor practice.

During our mitten week in preschool, we played a matching game. This is a simple game for students to match mittens by sizes and designs.

This is a great game for math skills.

The Mitten by Jan Brett?is a fun week in preschool. I even contacted the author to ask if she would be willing to read this book via Skype to my class, but due to publishing demands at this time she could not fit it in her schedule. She was very cordial though in her response and said she will send me a teachers classroom pack. I appreciate that.

There are many activities to go along with this book.

We started off our mitten theme in preschool by reading the book and showing some of the animals. My mother-in-law made me a big mitten by cutting a mitten shape out of white felt and sewing the edges together for durability. I have some little animals like in the story. As we read the book and came to each animal in the story, we put them inside our big mitten. The students love it at the end of the story when they get to reach in the mitten and toss all the animals out into the air.

This is a great activity for reading comprehension and acting out the story, using language skills and imagination.

This is a very easy art project for preschool students. Use 3 popsicle sticks. Crisscross them on top of one another and glue them together in the middle. Paint and sprinkle with glitter for a shiny effect.