Mitten Math

Yes... you can actually use mittens to teach simple mathematics concept!

Murphy, Stuart J.
The Missing Mittens.
January 2001.
Turtleback Books.
Guided Reading Level F
Review copy borrowed from local library.

I've featured many of Stuart J. Murphy's MathStart books on my blog in the past, so I'm more than eager to introduce yet another! This series helps readers make a connection between everyday life and mathematical concepts. The Missing Mittens focuses specifically on the idea of even and odd numbers... using mittens as a basis, since everyone knows you need a "pair" of mittens (or that each mitten needs a match) in order to keep your hands warm! The text is lyrical and funny, as Farmer Bill's farm seems to have a mitten thief who is robbing all the farm animals of their mitten's match. What's even funnier is who the culprit turns out to be!

Learning/Reading Activity:

• Help your child practice the concept of even and odd numbers by emptying out your mitten basket. Hide a few of the mittens, to ensure that there are some mittens without pairs. Help your child sort out the mittens. What number of mittens makes an even number? What numbers are odd? Then, to continue practicing, ask your child to complete the following worksheet! The worksheet asks children to determine if there is an odd or even number of mittens and then to draw one odd set and one even set.
  

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