Creative Ideas Needed

[Lianne]

When we walk anywhere I have the children walk in pairs. I usually pair the oldest with the youngest and I push the stroller. They are required to hold hands, walk not run and the older ones are to keep the younger ones on the sidewalk and not on people's lawns or the grass. I usually have 4-6 kids in my group and they're all great at walking together. Now that the cold weather is here and we're wearing mittens/gloves, the kids are finding it difficult to hold hands, their mittens are making it awkward. They try but the younger kids' hands slip out of the older kids' grasp or the older ones hold on tight and pull the mitten off the younger ones by accident. It's stressing the children out and frustrating all of us. It's especially frustrating if we're trying to get to the bus stop to pick up the school-agers on time or when we're trying to cross a street. Right now they're all wearing thin mittens but soon we'll need to move into thicker, warmer mittens and I'm sure the problem will be even worse.

I'm looking for suggestions on how to make it easier for the children to hold hands with their mittens on. Our sidewalks are narrow so having them hold the stoller is not an option. There's not enough room and the walking child/ren end up tripping on the stroller wheels or I run them over. I do not want the younger ones walking without a buddy just yet. I do want them to continue walking in pairs, I just need some creative ideas. Any suggestions?

[DCMomOf3]

Have you tried the walking ropes with rings for the kids to hold on to (or slip their wrists into? They would be single file if you didn't mind that.

[melskids]

at the center i worked at awhile back the one teacher took rope and sewed elastic in loops (like bracelets i guess) along the rope, and put them around the kids wrists. so they didnt have to hold on to anything, the rope held them

if you get what i'm trying to say, its kinda hard to explain

[DCMomOf3]

This is kind of like the one I have, but mine is all circles.

Discount School Supply - Shapes Walking Rope

[Blackcat31]

We use a rope like this one. Mine has loops on both sides of the rope and kids can use it with bulky gloves and mittens. NO ONE is allowed to let go of rope so it works out awesome. There are other walking ropes on the market but this is the only photo I could find. Do a google search for walking ropes.

[Blackcat31]

Originally Posted by Blackcat31

We use a rope like this one. Mine has loops on both sides of the rope and kids can use it with bulky gloves and mittens. NO ONE is allowed to let go of rope so it works out awesome. There are other walking ropes on the market but this is the only photo I could find. Do a google search for walking ropes.

Attachment 127

Attachment 128

Sorry attachments didnt work...i was in a hurry. Go to lakeshorelearning.com and search for walking ropes. You will find a nice example of what I mean.

[Lucy]

You could be like a certain someone whose pictures I saw on her website where they use those wretched leashes as if the children were animals. NOT!

I don't really have any suggestions, except that their little hands would keep each other warm during the time they are holding hands. Could they maybe temporarily take off the mitten on just the hand that is being held? Or... what if you use a knit cap - like a ski cap - and cover both of their hands as they are holding them and put a ponytail at the wrist to secure? Too weird? Ya, probably. LOL. I tried.

[Lianne]

The walking ropes don't work for me or my group we worked on using them all summer. I have to be at the front of the rope to lead/direct them but I don't like walking in front of the children and not being able to see them. What if one lets go and I don't notice? When we walk now, in pairs, the oldest child leads the group and I'm behind them all. I can see them all and respond immediately if necessary. Plus, the children weren't able to walk with the rope without tripping over each other, getting ahead of the person they're supposed to be following, etc.

[countrymom]

Originally Posted by Joyce

You could be like a certain someone whose pictures I saw on her website where they use those wretched leashes as if the children were animals. NOT!

I don't really have any suggestions, except that their little hands would keep each other warm during the time they are holding hands. Could they maybe temporarily take off the mitten on just the hand that is being held? Or... what if you use a knit cap - like a ski cap - and cover both of their hands as they are holding them and put a ponytail at the wrist to secure? Too weird? Ya, probably. LOL. I tried.

whose site is this, I'm curious to see

[countrymom]

I understand where your coming from, it canada its so cold you know you have to wear parkas (hehehe) but when its cold, you don't want the little kids to take their gloves off. how about a skipping rope, they can hold it. or and you get a wagon to pull some of the kids.

[MG&Lsmom]

Do you knit or sew? Have you heard of sweetheart mittens? They are basically 2 mittens sewn together at the hand (it makes a heart shape). They can hold hands inside the mitten. Then they could have thin mittens on underneath.


This was the best picture I could find. Not advertising for this pattern.

http://www.cocoknits.com/knit/garmen...s/smitten.html

[BentleysBands]

love our walking rope!

each one of our loops is an animal. i THINK i got from oriental trading, cant remember.

i had the same problem u had w/the rope but with consistancy they finally got it. what we did was each child had their loop but instead of single file we did one kid on each side...A is on left, B is on right..etc....they were still in single file but not directly behhind the other one. i always walk at the back . also, the rope we got was way too long so i just cut it down to how many loops we needed.

[Lianne]

Originally Posted by Joyce

You could be like a certain someone whose pictures I saw on her website where they use those wretched leashes as if the children were animals. NOT!

I don't really have any suggestions, except that their little hands would keep each other warm during the time they are holding hands. Could they maybe temporarily take off the mitten on just the hand that is being held? Or... what if you use a knit cap - like a ski cap - and cover both of their hands as they are holding them and put a ponytail at the wrist to secure? Too weird? Ya, probably. LOL. I tried.

I'm not a fan of wrist leashes or harnesses but I won't say I'd never use one. I do have those baby toy links attached to the stroller for my 2yr old to hold to allow some space between his feet and the stroller wheels, lol, but the links are not attached to him. He does have trouble holding them with his mittens on. Up til now the kids have been taking one mitten off to hold hands but it's getting too cold to do that. Their little fingers turned into icicles this afternoon on the way home from the bus stop!

[Lianne]

Originally Posted by MG&Lsmom

Do you knit or sew? Have you heard of sweetheart mittens? They are basically 2 mittens sewn together at the hand (it makes a heart shape). They can hold hands inside the mitten. Then they could have thin mittens on underneath.


This was the best picture I could find. Not advertising for this pattern.

http://www.cocoknits.com/knit/garmen...s/smitten.html

Oh, I LOVE this! I can't knit or sew but I have friends who can. In fact, one of my daycare clients knits beautifully. She just made me a few pais of leg warmers for the little ones who sit in the stroller so that when their pant cuff doesn't quite reach the top of their boot/shoes their legs are still covered. I bet she'd knit a couple pairs for me. Thanks so much!

[melskids]

i was thinking for a bit about this and just thought, what if you take wool or really thick tube socks and just cut one end open. they could hold hands inside the sock. however, the knit mitten hearts are MUCH cuter!!!!!!