Get crafty with the DUCK Lab! Each Friday, trained research assistants from the UNCG Psychology Department’s DUCK Lab will guide at-home crafts for children ages 3 to 12. Parents can join too to learn fun facts about crafts that foster age-appropriate skills or learn about the DUCK Lab’s nonprofit child development research projects.
This Friday, the DUCK Lab invites all preschool and early elementary age friends to join Andrea and make winter mittens! Follow along as Andrea takes you through each step and see how we can make some craft mittens to get ready for cold days in the winter!
Parents, did you know?
This craft offers an opportunity for your children to illustrate their causal reasoning abilities. Read on below for more info. about the connection between these types of activities and age-appropriate developmental milestones.
We also invite you to check out our child development research opportunities, which are now modified for the virtual world! Please click here to learn more or sign up to participate with us.
Here’s what you’ll need to get started:
Supplies:
Construction paper
Cotton balls
Small foam shapes, stickers, markers, or other decorative material
Glue (liquid, stick, or dots)
Scissors
Yarn or string
Tape
Directions:
Trace two mitten shapes on your construction paper. Then, cut the shapes out with scissors.
Glue some cotton balls to the bottom of your mittens.
Attach foam shapes or other decorative materials to your mittens. Be as creative as you’d like!
Cut some yarn or string at any length that you’d like. Tape one end of the yarn to the back of one mitten and the other end of the yarn to the back of your other mitten.
The DUCK Lab: Winter Mittens
Relation to Developmental Science:
The winter mittens craft offers parents the opportunity to ask their children about their decision making, which will encourage children to reflect on their choices. For example, children can choose to trace and cut mittens that are small, medium, or large. Children’s reasoning for their mitten size will likely depend on how they plan to use their craft. Some children might opt for large mittens so that their craft closely resembles actual mittens that they might wear during the winter. Other children might opt for small mittens for their toy dolls or stuffed animals. Parents can expand on the topic by asking children what might happen if someone’s mittens are too small or too big. For example, if someone’s mittens are too big, will the person be able to grab onto things more or less easily? Will large mittens keep someone’s hands more, less, or similarly warm as mittens that fit well? These types of questions will encourage children to practice their causal reasoning abilities and think about how something like mitten size can relate to everyday experiences, including the ability to grasp onto objects or maintain warmth.
*Great for preschoolers and early elementary schoolers!
The DUCK Lab is a partner in the nonprofit Child Development Research Center in the Department of Psychology at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. They conduct studies of social and cognitive development with 2- to 12- year-olds. Families who participate in their research studies are volunteers in the Greensboro community who generously offer their time to help support research and training opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students.