It’s the most wonderful time of the year again, and I just can’t WAIT to jump in to some fun Christmas themed learning over the next few weeks! To start, we’re going to be doing everything reindeer- after all, how else would Santa deliver all of his gifts if it wasn’t for the help of these fine furry friends! So all aboard Santa’s magic sleigh as we dash right into the Christmas season with some reindeer themed learning activities!
–Rudolph handprint painting: There are two different ways you can make a cute reindeer picture using your little’s hands and feet- you can either do their foot for the deer’s face and their hands for the antlers, or you can use their foot for Santa’s sleigh and a handprint for the reindeer! My little wanted to do both (actually it was his idea to paint- he even went and got out my painting apron and handed it to me! hahaha) which was perfect because now I have both ideas to share with you!
–Handprint antler hat: I traced my little’s hands with a white crayon on black paper then cut them out. I cut two strips of brown paper to make a headband (which he decorated while I was cutting out the handprints) then I taped them all together to make him a hat (which he refused to wear because he’s 2! hahaha)
–Rudolph jingle bell shaker: Anyone remember “Stick Stickley” from Nickelodeon in the 90’s? These jingle bell shakers kinda reminded me of him, but my kids loved them! We used them each morning this week to accompany our songs during calendar time- and of course to help us sing “Rudolph”! I just hot glued some googly eyes and black pipe cleaner antlers to a popsicle stick, then tied on a bell with another piece of pipe cleaner by twisting it around the back of the stick then hot gluing it in place (including any sharp edges). Then I gave them to my littles to let them play! I got the idea from PreK Pages.
–Reindeer food sensory play: I dumped a carton of oatmeal and some glitter into our sensory cake pan, gave the boys scooping tools and let them play! They had a blast pretending they were making dinner for Rudolph and his pals!
–Reindeer treats: When I saw this snack idea on Virtual Book Club for Kids I knew my littles would love it- and they did! You just use a peanut butter covered graham cracker, 2 mini pretzels and some M&Ms to make a little reindeer face for a snack! They were really yummy too!
–Color worksheet: I don’t usually have my toddler do worksheets, however, he always wants to do one when his big brother is working on one (I usually end up just giving him a coloring page), and this one came with a free reindeer worksheet pack I got at Teachers Pay Teachers for my preschooler, so I printed it out to give it a shot! I read each sentence to him, then gave him the correct color and let him color the reindeers accordingly while repeating the color name for him as he worked (ie. “Oh that’s a good job coloring blue! What a nice blue reindeer!”)
–Reindeer antler fine motor practice: Let me start off by saying that this was very tricky, even for my two year old. His tiny fingers weren’t quite strong enough to pinch the clothes pins (though I guess that’s the point- to build fine motor strength!) I would guess a 2 1/2 year old would have an easier time of it- or maybe smaller mini clothes pins would’ve worked better, but if your little is 1 I’d probably skip this one! Basically, I made a reindeer face, hot glued it to an upside-down cup, cut slits in the top and hot glued popsicle sticks in them. Then I had my little clip mini clothes pins on the sticks to make the reindeer’s antlers! I got this idea from Virtual Book Club for Kids.
–Supply/shopping list:
- popsicle sticks (3)
- red jingle bell
- pipe cleaner
- googly eyes
- cup
- 8 mini clothes pins
- red pom pom
- graham crackers
- peanut butter
- pretzels
- M&Ms
- oatmeal
- glitter
- cake pan
- scooping utensils
littlelovesandlearning.com 
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