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?

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