#747. Christmas Theme on Reindeer

Literature, level: Elementary
Posted Sat Dec 12 12:29:41 PST 1998 by Mona (monah@vrml.k12.la.us).
3rd grade, LA
Activity Time: 3-4 weeks
Concepts Taught: Used in many subjects.

These ideas were gathered at Teachers.Net Chatboard during December 1998. They are the ideas of many teachers that I have referenced.
ART:
Reindeer Puzzle Pin
Materials (for each pin):
 3 Small puzzle pieces
 Brown, green and red acrylic paint
 Googly eyes
 Pin back
 Glue (tacky or hot)
Directions:
3 small puzzle pieces painted brown. One piece is the face, the other 2 glued behind like antlers. Googly eyes and red nose painted on tip of face piece. Little holly leaves and berries on one of the antler pieces. Pin glued on back. (Very cute).

Another Reindeer
Materials:
 Pencil
 Scissors
 3 cardboard toilet tissue rolls
 Acrylic craft paints - black and brown
 Paintbrush
 Opaque paint markers - black and white
 Pink crayon
 Brown paper bag
 Cotton ball
 Tacky craft glue
Directions:
Cut out a 1/2" wide x 1-1/2" long strip from one cardboard roll. Cut out another strip just behind this one.
Paint the three cardboard rolls brown. Let dry. Paint the bottom 1 inch of the two uncut rolls black for hooves. With paint markers, paint the eyes and nose on the cut roll, adding a white dot in each pupil and a long comma like stroke on nose after black paint is dry.
Lay the 2 uncut rolls next to each other with hooves on the same end and glue together. Glue head (cut roll) to the font of one of these two rolls, positioning it about 2-1/2" above the bottom edge of reindeer's leg.
May ears from brown paper bag. Use pink crayon to color the inside of each ear. Crease ears and glue to each side of head.
Glue cotton ball on back of body for tail.

Candy Cane Reindeer
Materials (for each reindeer):
 1 candy cane
 1 brown pipe cleaner
 1 small red pompom
 2 "googly" eyes
 Hot glue gun
 Optional: gold cord
Directions:
Wrap the pipe cleaner around the candy cane where it curves down at the top, shape to form antlers. Hot glue the eyes on and the red pompom on (this is the nose). As an option, you could hot glue some gold cord on (near the antlers) in a loop to use as an ornament hanger.
Hot glue gun should be operated by an adult or under adult supervision.

Paper - Bag Reindeer Puppet
Materials:
 Small brown paper lunch bags(one per person)- the type with fold over bottom
 Pencil
 Glue (tacky works best)
 Scissors
 Crayons or felt markers
 Construction paper
 White paper (for eyes and nose)
 Red pompoms, if desired, for nose
Directions:
Suitable for ages 5 to 7 years.
Have each child trace their hand (to the wrist) twice on construction paper (one color). Cut the hand shapes out. These are glued to the back of the bag at the upper corners of the fold over portion which is placed face up to be used for the face. Add facial features - eyes (from white paper with black pupils), a red nose circle (or red pompom, if desired). Once dry, insert hand into the bag and the head can be made to move. A CUTE decoration.

Construction Paper Reindeer
Materials:
 Construction paper
 Scissors, glue stick (or other glue)
 Felt markers, crayons
Directions:
Suitable for ages 5 to 7 years.
Have each person trace one foot. Or have the girls work in pairs, and each girl will trace her partner's foot. Next, using another color, each person will trace two hand prints.
Cut the tracings out.
Glue the handprints behind the wider part of the foot (toe area). On the heel area, create eyes (black or brown) and a nose (red or black). These reindeer are cute and fun to make. a nice
SPECIAL NOTE: A glue stick works best for this project- less mess and fuss!

Pinecone Reindeer Face Ornament
Materials:
 2 inch pinecone dried so it is opened
 1/8 inch red pom pom
 1 chenille stem brown (pipe cleaner)
 2 googly eyes 1/8 inch
 1/4 inch red ribbon (6 inch length)
 1/16 inch brown ribbon (4 inch length)
 Craft glue, or glue gun
Directions:
Position pinecone on side. This is the face of the reindeer. Glue red pom pom to tip (or top of pinecone) for nose. Eyes are glued towards back on open petals. Red ribbon is tied in bow and glued under nose. Brown chenille stem is cut into three pieces. Two are two inches. The other is what is left. The large piece is then fitted under the bottom (which is actually the side) of the pine cone to form the antlers. The two, two inch pieces are wrapped on ends to form the antler branches. The brown ribbon is looped and glued to the back to make hanger (the back is actually the bottom).

Really Simple Reindeer
Materials:
 3 popsicle sticks per person
 2- 8mm wiggly eyes
 1 red pompom - your choice of size for nose (I like to fill in the join of the sticks).
 Glue (tacky glue works best)
Directions:
Suitable for any age level. A good project for bazaars or seniors' homes - and inexpensive!!
Glue two popsicle sticks together creating an angle or "V" shape. Apply a dot of glue about 1 1/2 inches from the unjoined end or each stick. Place remaining popsicle stick across the two sticks that form a "V". Apply two dots of glue on the cross wise stick near the center of the stick for the eyes. Apply a dot of glue at the join of the two sticks that form the "V" and add the red pompom nose. When completed, the tops of the "V" popsicle sticks extend a little over an inch and the crosswise stick extends a little less than an inch on both sides. Add a hanger if desired.

Reindeer Decoration
Materials:
 Brown or tan construction paper
 Felt or sheet foam
 Ribbon
 Black marker
 Red marker
 Craft glue (could also use "googly eyes")
Directions:
Trace onto the paper (felt or foam sheet) and cut out one foot and both hands (with finger's spread wide apart) . Place the foot with the toes are pointing up (this will form the face of the reindeer), attach one hand to each side of the widest part (forming the antlers). Glue everything in place. Draw in eyes and a nose with the markers. Use the ribbon to make a hanging loop. Be sure to date each decoration, in addition to being cute, these make an interesting way to remember just how small their hands and feet were.

Reindeer Pin
Materials:
 1 dark brown 12 inch long chenille stem or pipe cleaner
 1 red 12 inch long chenille, glitter or tinsel stem
 1 red 12 inch long chenille, glitter or tinsel stem
 1 red 1/2" acrylic or tinsel pompom
 Two 5mm wiggle eyes
 One 3/4 inch pin-back
 Glue gun and glue stick
 Pencil
Directions:
Head: Place a pencil across the center of the dark brown pipe cleaner or chenille stem and bend in half, forming a round even bend around the pencil. Measure 2 inches up from bend and twist.
Ears: Use the pencil as before to bend each end of pipecleaner or chenille stem inwards. Twist ends together, hiding them behind twist at the top of head.
Antlers: Use the pencil as before to bend a red chenille, glitter or tinsel stem in half, forming a v-shape.Glue antlers behind twist of reindeer's head.
Finishing: Glue on a red pompom for reindeer's nose and two wiggle eyes. Glue a pinback behind the eyes.
Replace the pin back with a small magnet to make a fridgie or attach the reindeer to a small barrette and wear him in your hair!

Gingerbread Man Reindeer
Materials:
 Thin cork
 Markers or paint
 "Eyes" ( or paint them)
 Glue
 Green fabric scraps
 Tiny bow
 Red bead or pompom
Directions:
Cut a gingerbread-man shape out of the cork. Use a cookie cutter for the pattern, or do it freehand. Turn so the "feet" are at the top. The 'feet' are the antlers, the 'arms' ears the 'head' is now the nose. Paint or draw straight lines from end of antlers, meeting in a V where the tummy would be if it was still a cookie. Draw a couple of 45 degree angle lines upward from the main lines. Glue red bead or pompom at tip of nose. Paint or glue wide round eyes centered above the nose. Cut 2 holly leaves from the green fabric. Glue at base of V. Glue bow on top of holly.
These can also be made with stiffened felt, fun foam, or wood. Add a pin or barrette back, or punch hole for ornament. Once you see how it goes, the creativity can get flowing

Reindeer Decoration
Materials:
 Brown or tan construction paper
 Felt or sheet foam
 Ribbon
 Black marker
 Red marker
 Craft glue (could also use "googly eyes")
Directions:
Trace onto the paper (felt or foam sheet) and cut out one foot and both hands (with finger's spread wide apart) . Place the foot with the toes are pointing up (this will form the face of the reindeer), attach one hand to each side of the widest part (forming the antlers). Glue everything in place. Draw in eyes and a nose with the markers. Use the ribbon to make a hanging loop. Be sure to date each decoration, in addition to being cute, these make an interesting way to remember just how small their hands and feet were.

Posted by Margaret on 11/21/98
PRETZEL REINDEERS
Lay traditional (heart-shaped) curled pretzels on wax paper.
Fill open areas with melted white chocolate.
Put two matching (usually brown) M&M's in two largest filled
areas (for eyes).
Put one red M&M in smallest filled area (for "Rudolph's"
nose).
Break straight stick type pretzels in half and insert at a
slant (broken and down) above
eyes to form antlers.

Posted by Sandi/2/soo on 11/22/98
Reindeer Puppets
Just had an idea for a little project... Make reindeer sock
puppets with stuffed gloves for the antlers!
Sandi:)
P.S. Math? Maybe you can think of some activities with number
sentences, facts, etc. to do with the hooves, antlers, eyes,
etc.

Posted by Mary, mreilly@bcn.net, on 11/24/98
> Here's one more to add to the bunch, or should I say
herd?
Take a metal coat hanger and assume it is a triangle. Pull the
hook ( top of the triangle) and the bottom of the triangle to
make a diamond shape.
Use one leg of a pair of panty hose and stretch it over
the diamond shape. Knot at top and bottom stretching tightly
and leaving hook exposed. Add reindeer eyes, a red circle
nose at the bottom point and antlers on either side of the
hook. Antlers can be cut from patterns or the child's hand and
wrist may be traced and cut out.
These are really cute and hang nicely. Feel free to
contact me if my directions aren't clear. Have fun!!

Christmas Reindeer
About this project -
In this project you use patterns of your hands and feet to make a reindeer with antlers. This is a project that is fun to do with you children year after year to see how much the reindeer have grown each year. These cute little fellows make great keepsakes or gifts for children to give to relatives, especially grandparents. I recommend using felt for gift giving. with my 4 year old. Smaller children may need help cutting out the hands and feet.
Supplies - Brown and tan (or lighter shade brown than first piece) felt or construction paper, wiggly eyes (the kind that are bubbles with the free moving black dot), small to medium red pom poms or circles cuts from red construction pape, Elmer's glue (or for the older crowd a hot glue gun), black marker(washable) or pen for tracing, and glitter (optional).
Note: The felt comes in rectangle sheets of varying sizes at crafts stores. I used pieces that were about 8"X11". This size will make 4-6 reindeer for a child aged 2 to 5. We averaged about 6 with a kids size 7 foot and careful placement to avoid waste.
Project how to -
Note: You will need one foot and a pair of hands (left&right) to make one reindeer.
1. Starting with the brown felt or construction paper, trace around your foot, either one will do.
2. Next, trace both of your hands onto the tan felt or construction paper.
3. Carefully cut out the hands and foot, smaller children usually need a little help here.
HINT: If you're making multiple reindeer for gifts you can use these first cut-outs as patterns for the rest that you do, instead of having to repeatedly get junior to stand still to trace his foot. Also, this makes it easier to place them very close together for cutting out to minimize wasted felt. Also, I save the scraps, since they can be used to make the mouths.
4. Take the hands and overlap the thumbs with the forefinger of the other hand to form antlers. Apply Elmer's in between where the hands touch.
Hint: If you're using felt apply the glue liberally, the reason for this is that it will stiffen when it dries so your reindeer won't flop over when you hang him up. Don't worry if the felt looks wet or white it'll dry clear and stiff!
5. Now you want to take one foot and make the reindeer's face. Overlap the toes of the foot about an inch or two over the palms of the hands. Lift the toes and glue where necessary, again liberally for felt.
6. A nose and two eyes are next. Put glue on the pom pom or paper nose and place about a 1-2 inches from the bottom. Put a dot of glue on the back of each wiggly eye and glue in the appropriate place.
7. Now, for final touches, I take the scraps of tan felt or construction paper and use them to cut out a mouth. I like to try different shapes if I'm making several reindeer; ovals, cresents, and wavy strips. You wouldn't believe what different expressions you'll get just with the change of a shape! You can give the antlers a snowy effect with glitter. Just dot or smear a little glue here and there and sprinkle with glitter.
8. Let your reindeer dry completely. After the reindeer is dry I like to put the name, age, and year on the back with permanent marker. That way, in years to come you'll know which kid and when. After you have 3 or 4 pair from consecutive years, you look back at those earliest reindeer and remember just how little those hands once were. That's when moms and grandparents will really treasure the reindeer as keepsakes the most.

Reindeer Garland
Here's a great project for everyone in the family to help out and make. This adorable reindeer garland can be stretched across a mantle, window or on a wall. Make eight reindeer with black noses and one with a red nose for Rudolph.
What you will need:

Reindeer template
Paddle ball toy
Acrylic paints and spray paint - brown, black, red, white
Dark brown and light brown felt
Glue gun
Wide ribbon

How to do it:

1. Make a template for the reindeer ears and antlers. Cut out the felt ears and antlers from the template.

2. Snip the ball off of the paddle.

3. Paint the paddle brown and the ball black. Let dry.

4. Use acrylic paint to paint eyes onto the paddle. Paint the names in the shape of their mouths (i.e. Donner).

5. Glue the felt antlers onto the top of the paddle.

6. Glue the ears onto the antlers.

7. Glue the ball onto the center of the paddle.

8. Tie ribbon around the base of the paddle.

9. Using wide ribbon, hot glue the paddles onto the ribbon. Let dry. Hang the garland.

Posted by Marie/2nd/NY, 3rices@frontiernet.net, on 11/24/98
Last year I had the kids make a cute reindeer craft. We took
two candy canes (per child), a LONG piece of brown yarn, two
black wiggly eyes and one red pom-pom.
Have them glue the candy canes back to back down the long
straight side. Tape one end of the yarn to the canes in the
middle. Wrap the yarn around the canes where it is thicker
at the top (near the hooks) and narrow at the bottom. This
makes the reindeer face and the hooks are his antlers.
Glue the loose end of the yarn down. Glue on the wiggle eyes
and red pom-pom nose. Looks cute and makes a great gift for
parents or tree decoration!
Good luck and e-mail me if my directions aren't clear enough.
Marie

Activities taken from Jan Brett's Website: The Wild Christmas Reindeer
Discuss, Teeka's plan, Teeka's problem, Teeka's decision, Teeka's discovery.
Discuss
How each reindeer got its name.
Give each reindeer a new name based on their behavior.
Find the traditional names of Santa's reindeer on a wall in the reindeer barn.

Posted by Nedra on 11/26/98
Hi, here are a few ideas from the Christmas Literature
unit I'm trying to put together.
Make a reindeer glyph.
Illustrate a reindeer story problem in journal and write a
corresponding number sentence.
Reindeer Sandwich
Ingredients for 1 sandwich:
1/2 slice of bread that has been cut diagonally
1 tbs. peanut butter
Pretzel twists
2 raisins or brown M&Ms
1 small round cinnamon candy or M&M
Spread the peanut butter on the bread. Add 2 raisin eyes, a
red candy nose, and pretzel antlers.
Write out simple rebus directions for a center activity.
Reindeer Pokey...
(The Hokey Pokey)
You put your antlers in. You put your antlers out.
You put you antlers in and you shake them all about.
You do the Reindeer Pokey and you turn yourself
around.
That's what it's all about!
You put your hooves in....
You put your red nose in....
You put your fluffy tail in...
You put your reindeer body in. . .
Reindeer Rattles
Materials: dried beans, plastic bags, small white paper
plates, wide craft sticks, tape, crayons, construction paper,
and scissors
Put a small handful of beans in a baggie and close.
Fold the plate in half.
Draw a reindeer face on one side of the folded plate.
Tape a craft stick inside the folded plate.
Put the bag of beans inside the plate and staple shut.
Make antlers and glue on plate.
Hope this helps,
Nedra

Here are some supplementary URLS and Books

REINDEER

Actual Pictures of Reindeer
http://www.mailbox.co.uk/nathan/reporter.html

Captain Jack's Christmas Tree Farm (name the reindeer...live photos)
http://www.christmas-tree.com/reindeer.html

Talk to Rudolph Straight from the Stable
http://northpole.net/rudolph.htm

Reindeer gif........lg red nose
http://www.talstar.com/cat/graphics/xr1/reinder2.gif
Reindeer gif.....head with facial expression
http://www.talstar.com/cat/graphics/xr1/rudolph1.gif
Lg reindeer gif......lg with blinking nose
http://www.talstar.com/cat/graphics/xr1/rudolph2.gif

Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer with Words and midi
http://www.night.net/Christmas/rudolph.html

Reindeer Matching Game
http://usacyber.com/Christmas/games/

Vote for your famous reindeer on line:
http://www.onenorthpole.com/Helpers/Helpers.html

Reindeer Recall Game
http://www2.claus.com/ELFSCHOOL1.html

Christmas Songs
http://www.night.net/Christmas/songs12.html-ssi

REINDEER BOOKS
Book Search Results
for: the keywords include "Reindeer", and the subject words include "4-8"

The Christmas Deer
April Wilson

The Christmas Eve Tradition
Jr., et al

Holly, Reindeer and Colored Lights
Edna Barth, Ursula Arndt (Illustrator)

Inger's Promise
Jami Parkison, Andra Chase (Illustrator) /

It Looks a Lot Like Reindeer (It Could Be Verse)
Brian P. Cleary, Rick Dupre (Illustrator) /

The Littlest Reindeer (Little Hugs Books)
Muff Singer, Cathy Beylon (Illustrator) /

Olive the Other Reindeer Toy
Vivian Walsh, J. otto Seibold

Olive, the Other Reindeer
Vivian Walsh(Illustrator),

Prancer
Stephen E. Cosgrove, et al

Reindeer
Emery Bernhard, et al

Reindeer (New True Books)
Emilie U. Lepthien

The Reindeer Christmas
Moe Price, Atsuko Morozumi (Illustrator) /

The Reindeer People
Ted Lewin /

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Rick Bunsen, Arkadia (Illustrator)

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Milli Jancar(Illustrator), Eileeni Daly

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Robert L. May, et al

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Robert L. May, Richard Scarry (Illustrator)

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Robert Lewis May, et al

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer : A Little Golden Book

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer : A Reteling of the New Animated Movie

Rudolph's Second Christmas
Robert L. May, Michael Emberley (Illustrator)

Santa's Ark
Cliff Wright

Santa's Ark
Cliff Wright(Illustrator)

Snipp, Snapp, Snurr, and the Reindeer
Maj Lindman

Ten Little Reindeer
Della Cohen, Deborah Borgo (Illustrator)

Triplet Trouble and the Runaway Reindeer (Little Apple)
Debbie Dadey, et al

Where's Prancer
Syd Hoff

The Wild Christmas Reindeer
Jan Brett

The Little Reindeer
Michael Foreman

New True Books: Reindeer
Emilie U. Lepthien
(Not Yet Published)

HAVE FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mona