Tot School: Reindeer

I’m so excited to share our next Tot School theme with you, Reindeer! We already have a Christmas and Gingerbread theme for December, but we added a Reindeer theme this year for even more holiday themed fun and learning.

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Here were our plans for our Reindeer theme:

And here are the details for each activity:

Reindeer Theme Books:

The Itsy Bitsy Reindeer by Jeffrey Burton
Eight Jolly Reindeer by Ilanit Oliver
Olive the Other Reindeer by J. Otto Seibold and Vivian Walsh
The Great Reindeer Rebellion by Lisa Trumbauer
Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer by Rick Bunsen

Reindeer Dot Stamp Page:

First this week, Aubrey used our Do A Dot Art! Markers for fine motor practice. She focused on placing one dot in each circle on the reindeer to help build one to one correspondence then colored the reindeer and letter R.

Fruit Cup Reindeer:

This little Rudolph was fun and easy to make.  Before we started I used a utility knife to poke 2 holes in the bottom of a few plastic fruit cups. Aubrey painted the entire fruit cup brown then we waited for it to dry. Next she bent short pipe cleaner pieces around a longer one to create antlers.  Then she pushed the antlers into holes in the fruit cup and I added a little hot glue on the inside so that they would stay in. Finally I used hot glue to add googly eyes and a large pom pom nose. (I added a dot of glue and she was able to carefully push it into the glue without any problem, but you may want to do this part on your own!)

Feed the Shape Reindeer:

Next, we focused on shape identification. I taped shape reindeer cards to a box and cut slits in each reindeer mouth.  Aubrey chose a shape carrot card, found the matching shape reindeer and pushed the card into the slot. Aubrey named each shape and we talked about the attributes as she found the correct slots.

Reindeer Paper Plate Mask:

To prep this mask I cut out a semi-circle from the top center of a paper plate. Madelynn painted the plate brown. While we waited for it to dry she cut out cardstock antlers and a nose. I reinforced the antlers by taping a craft stick to the back of each one. When the plate was dry she drew a mouth with a marker and  helped glue the antlers and an additional craft stick to the bottom of the plate for a mask handle.

Reindeer Nose Match:

We used jumbo tweezers for this easy color matching fine motor activity. I filled a cup with large colored pom poms. Aubrey used her tweezers to grab one, match it to the correct reindeer, and name the color.

Reindeer Express:

Our first gross motor activity was so much fun! For this activity, Aubrey picked up all the toys in Santa’s workshop, pulled a box “sleigh”, then had to look at pictures on each house bin to deliver the correct gifts to the correct homes.

Reindeer Run:

For our reindeer run activity, I printed reindeer action cards and numbered them 1-6 on the back. Then I gave Aubrey a large foam die to roll. She rolled the die, found the number then completed that reindeer action.

Reindeer Training:

What kid doesn’t love a fun obstacle course? Aubrey and Madelynn are always setting up their own obstacle courses so they love when I set up fun themed courses for them. Here is what I set up for our “reindeer training”:
-Cones to gallop through the forest
-A mat to roll in the snow
-Pillows to practice leaps
-Toys and a bag to fill Santa’s sack
-A small box with rope attached and a line of tape to pull Santa’s sleigh
-A tunnel to climb through the chimney and help deliver the presents!

Pin the Nose on Rudolph:

For this pin the nose on the Rudolph activity, we put a little twist on the normal pin the object game. Instead of taping the nose on the picture, Aubrey dipped her nose in petroleum jelly, tried to pick up the pom pom without using her hands, then stuck it to Rudolph’s nose (a laminated picture with more petroleum jelly on the nose part).

Reindeer Ring Toss:

This game was simple to set up because I found this inflatable reindeer ring toss game on Amazon. Super easy to set up and also fun to play with the whole family on Christmas.

Reindeer Snacks:

Peanut Butter Reindeer Cookies – Roll 1” balls of peanut butter cookie dough. Pinch the bottom of each ball and flatten into a little triangle shape. Bake 7-8 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately press two mini pretzels into the tops of the cookies for the reindeer’s antlers. Press brown M&Ms in for eyes and 1 red M&M for the nose.

Rudolph Pancakes – Make large and small pancakes. Stack one small pancake on top of the large pancake at the bottom. Cut another small pancake in half to use for ears. Add a strawberry for the nose, bacon for antlers, and chocolate chips on top of halved marshmallows for eyes.

Reindeer Cookies – Spread Nilla wafer cookies with chocolate frosting. Add red M&Ms for noses. Add candy eyes. Add broken pretzel pieces for antlers.

Reindeer Brownies – Bake a batch of your favorite brownie recipe (or use premade!) Spread chocolate frosting on top. Cut brownies into rectangles. Attach pretzel antlers, M&M noses and candy eyes.

Reindeer Toast – Toast a piece of bread then cut into heart shape. Spread with peanut butter. Add a blueberry for the nose, pretzels for antlers, and chocolate chips on top of halved marshmallows for eyes.

Rudolph Sensory Bin:

In this bin: Rudolph finger puppets, artificial snow, artificial trees, and foam snowflakes

Reindeer Puzzle Bin:

In this bin: reindeer puzzle, red and green rice

Reindeer Play Dough:

On this tray: chocolate play dough (recipe below), jingle bells, pipe cleaners, googly eyes, sticks

Chocolate play dough recipe:
1 cup chocolate frosting
About 3 cups powdered sugar  

1. Mix in a stand mixer, adding powdered sugar gradually.
2. Add a bit more or less sugar until your dough isn’t sticky.  

That’s it! So easy!

Sleigh Bell Sort:

In this bin: green shredded paper, colored jingle bells, reindeer sleigh cards, fine motor tools

Reindeer Feeding Bin:

In this bin: oats, pipe cleaners (bent into reindeer shapes), cups, bowls, scoops

Want all of this week’s Reindeer activities for tot school?  You can grab them here:
On my site : Reindeer Plans & Printables On TpT: Reindeer Plans & Printables

Or you can grab our entire year of themes and plans:
On my site here: Tot School Bundle On TpT here: Tot School Bundle

Then check out the rest of our 35+ themes on the Tot School Curriculum Main Page.