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Introducing: Mr. Reindeer
He doesn’t have a proper name yet, so Mr. Reindeer will have to do. I got the inspiration for him over at another blog I visit frequently, Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas, where they made their very own Monster to go with the book There Was an Old Monster. When I saw her post, I immediately made sure to save my next empty tissue box.
I decided we were going to feed Mr. Reindeer carrot letters and lettuce numbers, so I went ahead and made them and printed them on card stock.
E really enjoyed “feeding” the reindeer each carrot and head of lettuce as we worked on her letter and number identification, naming and counting skills.
We also took turns picking a head of lettuce and then counting out that many carrots. There are SO MANY things you can target with this simple little game, and kids LOVE “feeding” things to “animals”.
How to make your own Reindeer:
You’ll need:
- An empty tissue box
- Another smaller box to go on top (I used a popcorn box)
- Large red pom pom for nose
- Brown felt or construction paper to cover the boxes and make the antlers
- White and black felt or construction paper for eyes
- Card stock or cardboard
- Pipe cleaners (not needed if you use cardboard for the antlers)
- Glue (I used both hot glue and tacky glue)
- Scissors
How I made Mr. Reindeer:
- I covered the boxes in felt using hot glue. You could also use construction paper, however I want to be able to save this and use it year after year with my children and students, so I used felt.
- To create the ears, I basically used the same strategy I did when making the ears on my Owl Finger Puppets
- I cut out eyes from felt, and hot glued the large red pom pom nose
- I drew antlers on card stock, and glued them to the felt with tacky glue. (You could use card board also) I then cut out the felt around the card stock. Since they were a little flimsy, I hot glued a pipe cleaner on the back of each one for support. I then hot glued the antlers to the back of the head.
What you can target with the “food”
- Letter identification (receptive)
- Letter naming (expressive)
- Counting & 1:1 correspondence
- Spelling (print out several copies of the carrots)
Activity Ideas
- Have your child name each letter as he/she feeds them to the reindeer
- Give your child 2-4 carrots and have him/her find a specific letter, and then feed to the reindeer
- Turn the lettuce cards over and place in a pile. Take turns picking a card, and then feeding the reindeer the number of carrots on the lettuce.
- Print out two copies of the carrots and/or lettuce on card stock and play memory!
- Use the carrots to target spelling simple words
- Laminate the carrots and write target vocabulary (or target articulation words, if you are an SLP) on the back with dry erase marker. (I added this in a few hours after I published this post…somehow this had gotten erased before it was published).
Tips
- Print the carrots and lettuce on card stock rather than paper
- If you want the cards to last, laminate them.
Download tour own set of carrots/lettuce HERE.
Make sure to stop by on Friday…I have another activity that can be paired with Mr. Reindeer!
Cheers!
Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links.
32 Responses to Meet Our New Reindeer Friend
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Welcome! I'm Katie- a mama to two littles and a pediatric speech language pathologist. You'll find all kinds of goodies here about speech and language development and tips to help expand speech and language skills in children! I hope you enjoy your stay and learn a little along the way. Popular Topics
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Love Mr. Reindeer activity and your new Christmas header. We did the Snowman book yesterday and it was a huge hit. I hope to post that up on our blog soon. Thanks for all the fun ideas.
Jessica, so happy to hear the snowman book was a success!
This is the cutest IDEA!! I just found your blog and I am so glad I did! I am sending my speech pathologist over here too! Thanks for sharing some great resources!
Amy
Thanks Amy! So glad to have you…I’ll be checking out your blog as well!
I love this!! I pinned it to use on one of Boogie’s trays later in the month.
Sierra
Awesome! Sierra please let me know how it goes!!
Brilliant! And super cute
Visiting from It’s Playtime Linky!
Thanks
And Thanks for stopping by!
This is WAAAAAAAAAAAY cute!! What a fun, creative, learning activity that is sure to delight! I see a reindeer in our future too =-) Thanks for the free downloand – we’ll be using it! Thanks for linking up to TGIF!! Can’t wait to see what you come up with next week!!!
Beth =-)
Thanks Beth! Your kiddos will LOVE the Reindeer!! Let me know if you end up making one!
What cute numbers and letters activities! And thank you so much for sharing your tutorial and printable! Thanks for linking up with Montessori Monday. (If you could add the Montessori Monday button or link back, that would be awesome!) I featured your post at the Living Montessori Now Facebook page and pinned it to my Kids’ Christmas Activities Pinterest board at http://pinterest.com/debchitwood/kids-christmas-activities/.
Deb, thanks so much for featuring it your Facebook page and Pinning! And also…I’ll add the button right now, I’m so sorry I forgot! Thanks so much for the reminder!
That is just the cutest thing! I am going to go make one immediately. Thanks!
Thnaks Jenny Anne! let me know how you like it!
What a fun idea! You could make it a mailbox too. This is so cool!
Shiloh that is a great idea!!
What a fun idea, Katie! I would love it if you would share it at Sharing Saturday at http://craftymomsshare.blogspot.com/2011/12/sharing-saturday-8_09.html. Thank you!
I’ll be linking up Carrie!
Your reindeer is so cute! I bet you had a lot of fun with that. I wonder if we can get an empty tissue box in time to make one
Thanks Erin! (You can always take the tissues out and put in a pretty basket
)
Adorable!!!
Thanks Stafanie!
Oh my goodness, I LOVE THIS! What a great way to practice numbers and letters. I can’t wait to make it! Thanks for the awesome idea!
Thanks Rachel!
Let me know if you make it, I want to see pictures!! 
I just wanted to let you know I featured this at this week’s linky party – http://livinglifeintentionally.blogspot.com/2011/12/tgif-linky-party-9.html – So pop on over, grab your Featured Button & don’t forget to link up this week!! Thanks again for sharing your creativity with the rest of us!!
Beth =-)
Fantastic! Thanks Beth!
Love your adorable Reindeer Friend! Thanks for sharing him with our readers. Please stop by and grab your “featured on” button! We’ve featured your friend
on our site! http://www.toysinthedryer.com/
Lindsi, thank you!!! I’ll be heading over there soon, thanks so much for the feature!
Cute idea!
These printables would work beautifully with a “bunny” leading up to Easter!! I think I will make it now! Thanks!
Yes Hilary, I am planning a post on this VERY idea. I thought of this when I was making my Reindeer!
[...] make a bunny just like my reindeer, but with tall ears rather than antlers. Read my Reindeer post HERE for details. (You could also use a bunny puppet or make [...]