A mitten is a type of winter glove that keeps your fingers together in one warm compartment, with only your thumb separated in its own space. Unlike regular gloves, which have individual sections for each finger, mittens look like little pouches for your hands.

Mittens keep your hands warmer than gloves because your fingers can share their heat with each other instead of being isolated. When you're building a snowman or sledding on a freezing day, mittens trap warmth better than gloves do. Young children often wear mittens because they're much easier to put on than gloves, where you have to carefully guide each finger into the right spot.

People have worn mittens for thousands of years in cold climates. You might connect mittens to a string that runs through your coat sleeves so you don't lose them, or you might have a favorite pair with stripes or your school colors. When someone is clumsy or drops things frequently, people sometimes joke that they have “butterfingers” or that they should have worn mittens, though mittens actually make it harder to grip small objects precisely.