Our preschool special education classroom is focusing on the book The Mitten by Jan Brett. For those of you unfamiliar with this author, she has the most beautiful illustrations in her book. Mittens are not something you find in the deep south, living 15 miles from the state line of Florida. However, the books is a book about animals and something knitted, so how could I resist?? So the mittens we have are photocopied, but we don't have the real thing. In fact, mittens are hard to find in these parts. I don't want to give the impression there are NONE, but gloves are around here, but not many mittens. I have yet to see a child come to school with mittens on.
My grandmother used to knit us mittens, even if we did live in Florida. The New Englander in her and the love she had for us was the reason why she did. So our hands were traced so she could custom fit them to our hands and we would wear them..... a few times..... since we do get cold weather, but then it warms up quickly (as in 3-4 days).
Well, the speech therapist and I were talking about getting real mittens so they could try them on, sort them, match them, to reinforce the skills we work on with their varying disabilities. Some of them receive occupational therapy, so clothing skills are a part of their curriculum. Color identification, big and little, matching, and even for those with sensory integration challenges, putting ON something different is part of their work.
So I have a request from knitters, or even non knitters that may have a pair of mittens not in use. We would love to receive mittens from folks - they can be for little hands or big hands. Maybe they were a pair of mittens that got two lefties or two righties, or never made it to where they were supposed to go. Or they can be store bought! We would love a letter about cold weather and snow and where they mittens come from. We will place a map outside of our room and mark where we receive the mittens from. And I will post on my blog where we are getting the mittens from. Photos of snow and people with mittens on would be great also!
If you can help spread the word, even a note and a picture of a person wearing mittens would be fun for the kids! And the students that attend the elementary school can also see where they mittens have come from.
If you are willing to participate, you can email at:
cstevens at dcboe dot com
and I will give you the address of the school.
3 comments:
Can't believe I missed your birthday! Hope it was great.
I love that book! Unfortunately, I don't knit mittens. I'll mention you at my next knitters meeting, though.
I love Jan Brett's books--the hat is also beautifully illustrated.
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