Preschool Crafts, Educational Games, and Activities

Three Little Kittens Preschool Craft and Matching Game - Three Little Kittens have lost their mittens. Can you help them find the matching mitten?

What you will need: Two paper plates, card stock, glue, and scissors.

What to do:

1. Print out the patterns for the eyes, nose, arms, and tongue (Large file or small file) and cut them out. Color the nose and tongue pink.

2. Print out the cat face pattern (Large file or small file) and use it as a template to cut a paper plate to make the cats face. Use the pattern to cut just the ear shapes out of another paper plate for the back of the head. Glue the two paper plates together (top to top) to make the face.

3. Glue on the nose and eyes. Draw in the whiskers with a black marker. Color in the ears. Glue the arms on the back of the head as shown in the picture.

4. Cut a slit in the paper plate used for the back of the head 2 1/2" long and 1/4" wide. Slip the tongue down through the hole so that it sticks out of the mouth.

5. Print out the mitten patterns onto colorful paper. You can make more sets of matching mittens by using different colors for the same patterns.

Mitten Pattern 1 - (Large file or small file)
Mitten Pattern 2 - (Large file or small file)
Mitten Pattern 3 - (Large file or small file)

6. Read your children the poem about the three little kittens that lost their mittens. (You can find it on Enchanted Learning.) Then play a mitten matching game. Place all the mittens on the floor or table spread out in front of your children. Let them take turns finding matching mittens and gluing a set their kitten.

Extensions - You can also use this activity to reinforce other learning skills by using the blank mitten patterns: Mitten Pattern Blank - (Large file or small file)

1. Matching Numbers - Make pairs of mittens with matching numbers.

2. Matching Letters - Make pairs of mittens with matching letters or use the upper and lower case of each letter.

3. Match by texture - This is a great activity for vision-impaired children - Cut mitten shapes from different types of material. Have your children match the mitten by texture.

4. Letter Sounds - Print out small pictures of different items and place a piece of tape on the back of each one. Using pictures from your child's worksheets works great. Tell your child that the kitty is very hungry but she only wants to eat things that start with the "a" sound. (Move the kitty's tongue back and forth.) Ask your child if he or she can find a picture of something that starts with that sound and place it on the kitty's tongue. If the child is correct, the kitty will eat it. (Pull up the tongue so it looks like the kitty is eating it. And pull it all the way out and remove the picture. Then place the tongue back in it's mouth. If the child picked a picture that does not match that letter sound, just move the tongue back and forth and tell your child that the kitty does not like that one because it doesn't start with that sound, and he should try again. (You can also play this game using ending sounds and long or short vowel sounds.)

5. Writing numbers or letters - Give your child a pad of small sticky notes. Tell him that the kitty is hungry for a certain letter or number. He should write the letter or number on the sticky note and feed it to the kitty. If he is correct, the kitty eats it. If not, he must try again.