With this Homemade Mitten Matching Activity, preschoolers will match up coloured, patterned paper mittens and pin them together with small clothespins.
It’s a great activity to help young kids develop their matching skills and fine motor-skills, and a fun activity for a snow day or for the kids’ table at a Christmas party.
I love making homemade games for the hooligans in my daycare by turning ordinary household items into fun and educational activities for the kids. Matching games are particularly fun for little ones.
My toddlers and preschoolers so enjoyed our homemade halloween matching activity and our leaf matching activity last fall that I decided to make a similar activity with a winter theme.
If you’d rather buy a mitten matching game, you can get one here. (Amazon affiliate link)
The kids have played with it for hours over the past couple of weeks, all the while strengthening their fine motor skills and their ability to identify colours and patterns.
They have so much fun matching up the little mittens that they don’t even realize they’re learning.
I came up with the idea for our mitten matching activity after winter arrived with a full-on blizzard the other day.
As we dug out the snowsuits, hats, boots and mitts, I accepted the fact that it was time to shift from fall activities into snow-themed activities here in the daycare.
This was the view from our window the other day. It does kind of puts you in the mood for some winter fun, doesn’t it?
I sat that evening, and cut out all of the mittens for our matching activity, and had them all laid out for the children when the arrived the next morning.
The hooligans were so excited to discover this newest activity. Toddlers and preschoolers generally love any kind of matching activity, and this one looked so inviting all laid out on the table for them.
Don’t you love how the simplest things can thrill kids of this age?
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Homemade Mitten Matching Activity for Preschoolers
Supplies:
Where to get free, coloured and patterned paper:
Instead of using expensive scrapbook paper, or construction paper which can rip easily, I cut the mittens for our matching activity out of wallpaper sample books. I love using wallpaper samples for kids crafts and activities because the paper is thick and durable, and the colours, patterns and textures are so interesting for kids to look at and touch.
I get ours wallpaper books for free at the local paint store in our town. Every few years, the wallpaper patterns expire, and the books must be pulled from the shelves. The shop owner is always happy to give me his expired books rather than throw them in the trash. Pop into your local paint and wall paper store, and see if they’ll do the same for you. I’ll bet they’d be happy for you to take them off their hands.
I went through my wallpaper books and found eye-catching colours and patterns, and I cut out a whole stack of little mittens for the kids to match up.
Then I placed the mittens all over the activity table, and set out a small basket of coloured clothespins.
What fun! The hooligans loved matching up the mittens, pinning them together, and setting the matching pairs in a wicker basket.
The kids love using clothespins. They’re great for developing fine motor skills and hand-eye co-ordination. When you’re 2 or 3 years old, a lot of skill and concentration is required to open that clothespin and slide a couple of pieces of paper into the opening.
I love watching the children’s faces as they focus and then seeing them light up when they have success.
And of course, they also clipped the clothespins to their fingers, their clothing, and to the rim of the clothespin basket.
This little Hooligan worked away at the activity for about a half an hour by herself, as quiet as a mouse.
That’s quite a long time for a 2 year old to be engaged in one activity.
And while the Hooligans worked away at their matching activity, I whipped up a batch of cinnamon-sugar french toast mittens for a wintery lunch.
Stay warm folks! And stay tuned for more winter-time activities for the kids!
Hope you’re getting some of this white stuff too, whereever you are!
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Jackie is a mom, wife, home daycare provider, and the creative spirit behind Happy Hooligans. She specializes in kids’ crafts and activities, easy recipes, and parenting. She began blogging in 2011, and today, Happy Hooligans inspires more than 2 million parents, caregivers and Early Years Professionals all over the globe.
