1-2-3 Come Do A Mitten Activity With Me

Do you read the Ukrainian folktale The Mitten, by Jan Brett? It’s one of my favorite winter stories and perfect for practicing the sequencing and retelling a story standards.

With that in mind, I designed this quick, easy and fun, mitten-themed craft. 

The Mitten story “slider” craftivity helps your students retell the story in the proper order.

I just updated this packet and have included a second slider option as well as some additional worksheets.

Simply choose which graphics you like best, then run the mitten and slider patterns off on white paper.

Using construction paper or card stock adds to the sturdiness.

Children trim their mitten, then color, cut and glue their slider together. 

I pre-cut the mitten slits using an Exacto knife, so that children can easily insert their “storytelling strip”.

Takes me just a few minutes to slit a class set. (Try to say that tongue twister 3 times!)

As children pull on the end of their “slider” the various pictures go through the mitten “window”, so that students can take turns retelling the story to a partner, then take their mitten home to share with their family, once again practicing the lesson.

I introduce the lesson by reading the story, then share my sample with the children. 

We retell the tale together, using the picture prompts on the slider.   Pausing before I show the graphic, I ask children "what comes next?"

We've had a quick & fun review; my students now know what’s expected of them, and are excited to transition to making a “mitten story slider” of their own. 

So that you can quickly and easily make an example to share, I’ve included full-color patterns for teachers, as well as a black & white templates for students.

The coloring, cutting and assembling a storytelling slider provides great fine motor practice, which will help strengthen children's finger muscles. 

Sliders are an easy & interesting way to assess comprehension.  I’ve also included a “Let’s sequence the story” activity for this, where students color and trim the "picture tiles" then glue them in the correct order on their worksheet.

There’s a larger, full-color option, so you can do this as a fun whole-group activity with little ones.  This can be done during, or after you read the story.

There’s also a “Here’s What Happened…” writing prompt worksheet, as another way to check comprehension, plus practice sequential writing; hopefully using a variety of ordinal numbers and other transitions. 

Use the colorful template to do this as a whole group activity with younger kiddos. 

Keeping with a winter theme, today's featured FREEBIE is a sweet snowman "Name Stacker" craft.

I pre-cut the white circles for my kiddos.

Looking at their name tag, which is on their desk, they write a letter on each of the circles to spell their name.

Encourage students to make big letters, which fill up the center of the circle.

Afterwards, they glue on a hat and add some facial features to the "head"; then glue the rest of their "body" circles on, creating a vertical name "stacker" snowman. 

 Completed projects look adorable on lockers.

Well that's it for today.  Thanks for stopping by. 

My "To Do for January" list is quite daunting. 

I'm afraid there is simply not enough time in the month to get everything designed that I'd like. Oh well...

Wishing you a wonderful & stress-free week.

"Kindness is like snow. It beautifies everything it covers." -Kahlil Gibran

1-2-3 Come Do Some Winter Craftivities With Me!

Hopefully things are winding down this last week of school before Christmas Break.  If you're looking for a few last-minute things for your kiddo's to do, you've come to the right place.  Here are some quick, easy and simple activities, I think your students will enjoy. 

Since the 3D cylinder shape was always the "toughy" for my Y5's to wrap their heads around,  I tried to do several projects each month involving that shape.  The cylinder-shaped Santa windsock, was one of their favorites.  I made Santa's beard by tracing their hand once and then cutting it out 4 times.

Children work on a flat surface; when they are done, then help them roll their Santa into a cylinder shape.  Pulled-cotton and glitter, add those finishing touches. Punch a hole in the top, tie a yarn loop, so it can hang from the ceiling. 

Review the triangle, oval, and circle shapes as well.  If you have your kiddo's do a craft on party day, these are great as a whole-group, or independent center activity. 

To expedite things, make sure you trace and cut their hand prints the day before. Click on the link to view/download the Keepsake Hand Print Santa

Quite a few of my favorite Christmas Stories involve mice, so I thought it would be fun to design a sweet treat for my Y5's, featuring this Christmas character.  You can review the oval shape with this craftivity as well.  His ears are heart-shaped.

I don't buy peppermint candy canes for my kiddo's, as when we graphed whether they liked peppermint or not, most of them did not. 

This was true every year, so I looked for the flavored candy canes.  You can get a box of a dozen at The Dollar Store.  Wiggle eyes and a pom pom nose added extra pizzazz.

You can make these for your students as a gift, but I liked doing them as a craftivity the last day of school.  I used silver wallpaper for a sparkling effect.  You could also glue metallic wrapping paper to tag board.  Click on the link to view/download the Christmas Mouse.

Another peppermint activity I call "Me Mints."  I made the larger one out of a sturdy 8-inch paper plate.  Students striped the edges.  Enlarge a photo, cut into a circle and mount it in the center of the plate. 

Wrap with clear cellophane.  (You can buy it by the roll at The Dollar Store.)  Twist the ends and tie with curling ribbon. 

These make a super bulletin board boarder, or have students glue the "greeting" to the back and suspend from the ceiling. 

I also made a "Mini Mint" ornament template for you. Run off the peppermint candy.  Students color with markers and glue to a circle of tag board. Follow the above directions to complete this "Awww-dorable" craftivity.  Click on the link to grab this FREEBIE.

Finally, Wally,The Wallpaper Snowman, would be fun to do on the last day, so that you would have some winter decorations up when your students return from Christmas vacation. 

If you look closely, you'll see that Wally's face is textured.  I made the circles out of embossed wallpaper.  You can buy a roll of white textured wallpaper for less that $5, or visit a paint, wallpaper, or home-decor store, where they sell wallpaper, and ask if you could have or buy a sample book. 

I used these sample books for die cuts, banners, backgrounds, and stationery for my students to write on.  I've included 4 winter writing prompts so that students have a choice.

Children write a rough draft and when they have finalized it, they write it on the circle and glue it to the back of Wally.  These look wonderful dangling from the ceiling.  Click on the link to view/download Wally,The Wallpaper Snowman Writing Prompt Dangler.

Thanks for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN away.  I design and blog daily, so I hope you have the time to drop by tomorrow for even more FREEBIES.

"I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year." - Charles Dickens from A Christmas Carol

1-2-3 Come Do Some Winter Crafts With Me

Out of all of the items I post, it seems that the crafty activities are downloaded and pinned the most. I’m so glad!  I LOVE LOVE LOVE doing hands-on art with children. 

You really can make some time for it if you turn the craftivities into an independent center, where standards can be reviewed and reinforced + they are excellent fine motor practice as well.

These independent centers are a great motivational tool to get kids to focus and stay on task, as you reward those who do a good job finishing by allowing them to transition to a crafty center, when they have completed their work.

I know the day is packed, but perhaps if you ban together with the other teachers in your grade level, you can make a 1-hour block for a craft exchange.  This is especially fun for the last day of school before break.  Even older students really enjoy this.  When I taught 1st and 2nd grade we did 4-fifteen-minute craft exchanges and allowed 2-3 minutes to transition.   

Each teacher thought of a 15-minute quickie craft activity and supplied all of the materials.  We’d start with our own class and then rotate through to the next 3.  If “craftivities” needed to dry, we’d set them in a line in the hallway. Each teacher had their own section.  

We tried to think of things that students could do independently, without a whole lot of explanation.  We often included items that children could give as a gift.   When everyone had rotated through the rooms, students could wrap their items in tissue and then read some Christmas books. 

I’ve included some of my all-time favorite winter crafts in the blog today, and hope you find something to interest you and your kiddo’s.  I gave up on asking parents for empty cans, toilet paper tubes or whatever recycled item I needed.  It was simply much easier to save them myself and toss them into labeled waste baskets that I kept in my basement.  

I also had a special can opener that I bought from Magic Chef that seamed the top of the can in such a way that there were no sharp edges for a child to get cut on.  The Tin Can Snowman was a huge hit with my Y5’s.

If you don’t want to mess with painting, have students wrap the cans with paper or white & black Duct tape.  They have all sorts of colors available at craft stores now.  I cut the hat brims out of foam, but you could also use black construction paper for them as well.  Don’t forget to take a moment to reinforce circles and the 3D-cylinder shape with your students (A standard covered! Woo hoo).  Click on the link for the Tin Can Snowman.

Another way to review the cylinder shape is by making  Silas, the Cylinder Windsock.
Students decorate the flat surface; glue a black strip to the top to make the hat and then gently roll the paper to make a cylinder.

Staple them at the top, in the middle and on the bottom.  Punch a hole on either side and make a yarn tie.  These look awesome displayed from the ceiling.  Click on the link to view/download the Cylinder Snowman Windsock,which can be found in the Winter Art & Activities Packet. 

You'll also find this 3D snowman dangler, as well as the Doilie Dan Snowman. 

He reinforces a variety of standards, including small-medium and large. 

I did this as a whole group activity to assess listening and following directions, which also reinforced ordinal numbers (1st do this, 2nd this etc.) 

Spatial directions were also included. (Place this above, under, to the left etc.)  Completed projects made a wonderful assessment tool, as parents asked their child the questions that were on the snowman's tummy.

Winter Art & Activities was one of the first packets that I put together several years ago, before I had all of the fonts and software programs that I use today, but I think the simple hand drawn patterns are easy to follow.  

Besides snowmen, I've included penguin and mitten crafts as well.  Click on the link for this whopping 118-page packet filled with all sorts of fun. Winter Art & Actiities packet

One of my students' favorites was Charlie the paint stick snowman. He dangles from the doorknob.

Sample in hand, I’d go to a paint store or home-depot sort of place, show Charlie, explain it was for a kindergarten Christmas craft, and could I buy 20 paint stirrers. 

For 11 years no one asked me to pay, and they all thought Charlie was adorable.  If you'd like to make a matching ornament, simply use an extra large Popsicle stick.  Click on the link to view/download the Paint Stick Snowman.  

 “Snowy.”  is my all-time favorite.  What home doesn’t have a pile of socks missing a mate?  Send a note home asking parents if they’ll donate them to your class.  Cut the toes off, tie the tops with a bit of yarn, flip up the “cuff” and tadah you have an adorable hat.  

You’ll need some white tube socks as well.  These need to be the kind that are straight with no heel. 

I turn them inside out so they have a nice scruffy look.  A scrap of flannel with the ends frayed makes the perfect scarf.  

You can also use ribbon (plaid is a personal favorite) Adjust how tight you tie on the scarf so it  “sections” the body.  Wiggle eyes, buttons and a wooden heart all add to the cuteness factor.  I stuffed Snowy with pillow batting.  You can buy it by the bag at most fabric stores.  Click on the link for all of the directions to make this sweet sock snowman.

Finally, Snowman Prints is one of those keepsake  "Awww-dorable" craftivities that parents so enjoy.  This is not my original idea.  I've seen it all over Pinterest on glass ornaments, and wanted to make this safe and inexpensive for a teacher to do with her class, so I designed one using construction paper and added an aluminum foil top. 

Sometimes, parents fail to realize that some of the art work,  especially this one, was made from their child's hand, so I wrote a poem to accompany this keepsake. 

I guess it did the trick because one mom said: "I loved Conrad's ornament and didn't even know it was his hand print 'til I read the poem.  Now I love it even more!"

I think they turned out super-cute and my kiddo's really enjoyed making them.  I experiemented with red and green construction paper, but think the blue background turned out the best. Click on the link to get the patterns for the Snowman Print Ornament.

Thanks for visiting today.  I hope you can stop by tomorrow, as I will be posting lots more helpful FREEBIES. Feel free to PIN away.

"Maybe Christmas, the Grinch thought, doesn't come from a store." -Dr. Seuss from The Grinch Who Stole Christmas

1-2-3 Come Do Some Winter Craftivities With Me

PTL  things are FINALLY back to normal in my little cyber-world.  Few things have the capicity to incapacitate me, as much as computer problems.  I'm such a control freak that when something happens that is out of my control, it is way beyond frustrating. Anyone relate? 

We now have a brand new server and everything seems to have transferred well.  Sorry if you experienced broken links and error messages while I was swinging from the ceiling pulling my hair out.  I'm all better now, and can't wait to share lots of new stuff that I played around with, to keep my sanity, while experiencing insane glitches.

This is a potpourri of winter-themed "stuff."  My new personal favorite I call My Shapely Snowflakes.  I was watching the overhead at church Sunday; they had a lovely snowflake posted on the message.  The center was of all things a hexagon!  That's a "toughy" shape that I'm always on the look out for fun things to do with it. 

Beside the Pentagon and a few nuts and bolts, it's hard to give children an example.  My husband thinks I should shut off my creative enthusiasm every now and then, especially at church, but I was so excited to design My Shapely Snowflakes I sketched a note to myself. 

You can make a set to use as flashcards, a bulletin board, interesting assessment, or independent matching center.  I've also included a spinner, so students can play a game. Click on the My Shapely Snowflakes link to grab it. 

One of my Y5 standards was that students could recognize and spell their names.  Although my kiddo's accomplished this by the end of September, they always enjoyed any activity that involved their names.  

With that in mind, I designed this wintry alphabet snowman.  You can give your students the option to spell their name, so they have a sweet sign to decorate their bedroom door with, or have them think of a winter word they'd like to spell out like: peace, love, joy, snow, winter or even welcome.  Hang them in the hallway with the caption: "_________________'s Kinders Are Simply Brrrr-illiant!"

There are 4 different sets of alphabet cards to choose from.  You can also print, laminate, trim and use for a variety of games.  A 3-page list of ideas is included in the packet. This is the one I made for my grandson.  Click on the link to view/download the Snowman Alphabet craftivity.

If you're tossing in some poetry to cover a variety of genres, have your students make an acrostic poem.  Students of all ages enjoy making them, and they are a nice way for children to review letters and words that begin with those letters.  I've made a template for a snowman, winter, and frozen word acrostic.  Click on the link to check out The Snowman Acrostic craftivity.

I know many of you are out there searching the web for quick, easy and inexpensive ideas for your kiddo's to make as a gift, or for you to give to them.  How about a pin? The snowman tea light is not my original idea.  I found it all over Pinterest as a magnet and decided to diddle around with one as a pin.

As a child I LOVED my Santa, Rudolph and Snowman (pull-the-string and light-up-the-nose) pins you could buy at the "dime" store.  Anyone else remember those? 

I used E6000 to glue on the pin back, wiggle eyes and bow; added the mouth with a permanent Sharpie, and cut off the finger of a black glove to make the hat.  Yes it stretches that much!  Roll the end up, so they don't look frayed and add a dot of glue to keep it rolled.

The Dollar Store sells these gloves in all sorts of colors.  I think red or green would have looked nicer, but I had black around the house so tada! (2 pair makes 20 inexpensive pins/magnets.)  You can also buy a pack of tea lights there too.  Make sure you position the hat so that you don't cover the light switch.

Finally, another sweet gift is the Christmas Tree Lights bookmark made out of finger prints. "You light up my life with your love, so I left some finger prints to brighten yours."  Baby Kaiden and I made this sample; my daughter loved it. 

This is included in the Bright Student packet, which also has several games, + 2-sets of alphabet cards.  Click on the link to view/download the Christmas Lights craftivity.

Thanks for visiting today.  I try to design and blog daily, so I hope you can stop by tomorrow for more FREEBIES hot off  Diane's sketch pad.  Feel free to PIN away.

"What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness.” - John Steinbeck, Travels With Charley: In Search of America