Kids gloves and mittens are essential articles of clothing during the winter season and we hope to expand your knowledge of some of the key factors associated with selecting a pair for your son or daughter.

The first question that arises is whether you should select gloves or mittens to protect your kids hands. Each design comes with advantages and disadvantages, but in the proper setting each will provide warmth for little hands!

Gloves are best if your child is going to be engaging in activities that require a good amount of manual dexterity and fine motor skills that require the gripping and manipulation of smaller objects. The fact that the thumb and fingers are separated by in their own sections of the glove usually causes them to be somewhat colder than when wearing mittens.

Mittens are great if warmth is the main priority and there is little need for extensive hand and finger manipulation of objects, handles, knobs, etc. The fact that the fingers and thumbs can be rubbed against each other to produce body heat is the main reason why mittens are generally considered to provide more warmth than gloves. As you can see it is a trade off of warmth versus manual dexterity.

Kids gloves are usually made of wool or some other natural fiber and these materials are well suited for this purpose, but today, the best designs are made from synthetic materials such as Ventia, GoreTex or Thinsulate. These materials are all designed to be waterproof and most are insulated. Additionally, there are many high quality winter gloves on the market that are made from fleece, microfleece, and synthetics such as Primaloft, which has great insulating characteristics.

Most brands of kids mittens share these same characteristics and most manufacturers produce both designs in a variety of weights, colors and insulation ratings. As mentioned previously, the major factors in choosing gloves or mittens for your kid depends on what kind of climate they will be exposed to and what type of outdoor activities he or she will be engaged in.

Some of the major brand names of kids mittens and gloves are REI, Patagonia, Cannondale, Lands End, Spyder and Dakine. You can buy products from any of these companies and feel secure in the fact that they have been producing quality cold weather clothing for many years. A typical pair of winter gloves and mittens will cost from $20 - $50, with some higher end designs costing considerably more.

You can purchase these items at many local department stores and shops that sell outer wear. The best place to shop, in our opinion, is online where there are many merchants offering quality apparel at bargain prices. We wish you luck in your search for a great pair of kids mittens or gloves for your child!

Source: http://www.kidssnowboots.org/Mittens-&-Gloves.html