Left Right Game for Winter Party

Short: The Mitten Box

Every house in Birch Hollow has one by the back door in winter. At Aunt Bea's it is a wooden crate, and it is called the mitten box.

On the first cold morning of the year, Uncle Gus was sent to it to find a pair.

It was full to the top. There were red mittens and blue mittens and a gray one with a hole in the thumb. Uncle Gus pulled them out one at a time and laid them on the floor in a row.

"These are all for the same hand," said Uncle Gus.

Aunt Bea came to see. It was true. There were fourteen mittens on the floor, and every one of them was a LEFT.

"That cannot be," said Aunt Bea, and tipped the crate upside down. Out fell a scarf, one earmuff, a tennis ball and a fifteenth mitten. It was a LEFT.

"Where do the others go?" said Uncle Gus.

Nobody knows. A person goes out with two mittens and comes home with one, and it is never the RIGHT one. The other is on a fence post somewhere, waving.

So Uncle Gus did what everybody does in the end. One green mitten went on as it was meant to. One red mitten went on the other hand, backward, with the thumb sticking out like a small flag.

At the gate Uncle Gus stopped. There on the post, RIGHT at eye level, somebody had hung a lost mitten for its owner to find. It was blue. Uncle Gus tried it on.

It was a LEFT.

Uncle Gus LEFT it there, waving, and went on up the road.

Stay warm. Whatever you are holding now is yours to keep.

All 5 stories

Show the list

Short: The Mitten Box Short, about 2 minutes. LEFT 4, RIGHT 2. Fifteen mittens, and every one for the same hand. Gifts end two seats left of where they started. Asks for 3 words: 2 × name, 1 × town.
The Driveway Standard, about 3 minutes. LEFT 4, RIGHT 2. An hour of shoveling, and then the town plow. Gifts end two seats left of where they started. Asks for 3 words: 2 × name, 1 × town.
The Thermostat Standard, about 3 minutes. LEFT 4, RIGHT 3. Two people, one dial and a cat who has given up. Gifts end one seat left of where they started. Asks for 3 words: 2 × name, 1 × town.
The Sled That Steered Itself Standard, about 3 minutes. LEFT 4, RIGHT 2. An old sled that only goes one way, and why nobody fixed it. Gifts end two seats left of where they started. Asks for 3 words: 2 × name, 1 × town.
Rhymed: The First Snow Rhymed, 14 couplets, about 3 minutes. LEFT 4, RIGHT 3. A snow day, from the first flake to the warm chair. Gifts end one seat left of where they started. Asks for 4 words: 2 × name, 1 × town, 1 × warm drink.

The kinds of words the game asks for

Name a first name; a made-up one is fine. More examples: Sir Reginald, Professor Plum, Doctor Noodle.

How these stories were written: All five stories were written for this site in October 2026, and none is adapted from a left right story in circulation. The people and the town are the names you type, or samples; no real person appears. Pass counts are counted from the final text. Licence: own work

How it works

In a left right game for a winter party, each player passes a small gift one seat at every LEFT or RIGHT. Press Start: give me 3 words to put your names in The Mitten Box.

Read the full guide

How to play

Each player brings or is handed one small wrapped gift. Sit three or more in a circle and choose a reader. The reader goes slowly; at every LEFT or RIGHT in capitals, all the gifts move one seat that way. The gift in your hands at the end is yours.

Pick a story

The Mitten Box is the short one. The Driveway is a morning of shoveling and the town plow. The Thermostat is two people and one dial. The Sled That Steered Itself is four runs down a hill. The First Snow is 14 rhymed couplets.

The First Snow asks for a warm drink: type cocoa, not the cocoa.
Want the holidays in it? See the left right Christmas game and the New Year's Eve left right game.

Questions and answers

How long does a winter left right game take?

About 2 to 3 minutes a story. The Mitten Box takes about 2 minutes, with 6 passes. The Driveway and The Sled That Steered Itself take about 3, with 6 each; The Thermostat and The First Snow about 3, with 7 each.

Is there a left right game for winter that is not about Christmas?

All five here. None has a decorated tree, a stocking or a countdown in it, so they suit a January party or a group that does not mark Christmas.

What do you pass in a winter left right game?

One small wrapped gift each: a pair of gloves, a mug, a packet of cocoa. With three or more players nobody gets their own back: The Thermostat and The First Snow end one seat to the left, the other three end two.