The Mitten Activity

We've been wearing a lot of mittens lately.  Today was no different, and according to the groundhog, we should expect more of the same. I'm sure I'm not alone in this sentiment, but I like winter around Christmas-time and then I would like spring to be here by February.  Western New York has other plans, of course, so I figure I'd better embrace it for my daughter's sake. The Mitten by Jan Brett is a classic winter book (we have a board book version) with beautiful illustrations.  It's about a little boy named Nicki who would like a pair of mittens as white as the snow. His Baba knits him a pair with the warning that they can be easily lost in the snow. Of course, he loses one and a bevy of animals use it for shelter.  My favorite part of this book are the tiny illustrations along the sides of the pages that foreshadow what will happen on the next page (this is a great way to introduce this concept for little ones).

See the little side-bar illustrations? A badger is coming next!

I decided to go a bit literal with this one again, but put a little math spin on it.  I found some mittens/gloves of various sizes and we took my daughter's little plastic animals and put as many as could fit inside each one.  I also decided to use this as a basic introduction to estimation.

What You'll Need:

• Mittens/gloves of varying sizes
• Paper to make your estimates/record final amount
• A writing implement
• Plastic animals

*Note: We used the plastic animals to go along with the story, but if you would really like to compare the volume of the mittens accurately, choose objects that are all the same size and shape (like Unifix cubes or marbles). This activity would be a great one for older kids, too who already have an understanding of estimation.

Procedure:

Estimating how many animals will fit and recording it.

1. Remind the kiddo how lots of animals were able to fit into Nicki's mitten. Show them the chosen mittens and explain that you are going to see how many animals can fit into your mittens.
2. Place a piece of paper below each mitten/glove and write the words Estimate: _____ and Actual: ________
3. Begin by looking at each mitten and give them a stretch.  Ask the child how many animals they think might fit into the glove/mitten. (My daughter is 2 and made some adorable guesses, but write down any guess they make and explain that you're making your best guess as to how many might fit, but it's okay if you don't guess correctly).
4. Begin putting animals in the first mitten and count out loud.  Fit as many in as you can and record the total under Actual: _______. Remove the animals (unless you have enough items to fill each glove full) and move on to the second glove/mitten.
5. Continue this process until every mitten/glove has been filled with animals and record your amounts. 
6. Examine your records and see how close your estimations were. With older children, they can find the difference between the estimate and actual (Subtract the higher number from the lower number and record the finding) or state if their estimates were greater or less than the actual.

Gloves/mittens can definitely stretch quite a bit, so use your judgement to determine when it is 'full.'  Have fun and then go play outside in the snow!