Mitten Letter Matching Game (with Snowflakes!)

Playing this winter-theme matching game recently was exciting because it showed me how much my five-year-old is able to do with letters.  First, we matched some upper and lower case letters.  Then I wanted to see if my son could read some three-letter words.  And he did!  

Read on to learn how we made the mittens and snowflakes and set up the game.

Mitten Letter Matching Game

     Materials Used: 

• Felt in two or more colors
• White paper (lighter weight copy paper works best)
• Scissors
• Fine line marker

1.  Cut identical mitten shapes out of felt.  I made 16 mittens.

2.  Cut snowflakes out of white paper that are slightly smaller than the mittens.  You want the mittens to be able to cover the snowflakes.

3.  Write sets of upper and lower case letters on the snowflakes.  One letter goes on each snowflake.  I had 8 sets of letters.

4.  Arrange the snowflakes and cover them with mittens.   I decided to use the same color for matching sets.  In the photo below you can see that "A" and "a" are both red.

5.  To play, turn over two mittens and see if the letters match (upper and lower case).  Take turns trying to find and remember where matching letters are.

6.  After the memory game, you can try to form short words with the letters on the snowflakes.  See if your child can read any of them.

More fun follow-up activity ideas:

• Make mathematical patterns with the different colors of mittens.  For example, green-red-red-green-red-red...
• Read The Mitten, a popular book for kindergarten kids, by Jan Brett.
• Play the Snowflake Stomp Game.