Playing With Words 365

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Meet Our New Reindeer Friend

December 7, 2011 by Katie Filed Under: Language Enrichment Activities for Parents, Therapy Ideas and Activities 40 Comments

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!

About Katie

Katie is a licensed, credentialed and certified pediatric speech-language pathologist and mom to four (8, 6, 3 and 6 months). Her passion for educating, inspiring and empowering parents of children with all abilities led her to start her blog playing with words 365 where she shares information about speech & language development & intervention strategies, parenting, photography and a little about her family life too. Katie has been working in the field of speech pathology for 12 years and is certified in The Hanen Centre’s It Takes Two to Talk ® and Target Word ® programs and holds a certificate in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). In addition to blogging and being a mommy, Katie works part time in her small private practice in the San Francisco Bay Area. You can follow her on Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter.

Comments

  1. Jessica @ Preserving Life's Moments says

    December 7, 2011 at 10:08 am

    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.

    Reply
    • Katie says

      December 7, 2011 at 10:48 am

      Jessica, so happy to hear the snowman book was a success! 😀

      Reply
  2. Amy Marshall says

    December 7, 2011 at 10:23 am

    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

    Reply
    • Katie says

      December 7, 2011 at 10:47 am

      Thanks Amy! So glad to have you…I’ll be checking out your blog as well!

      Reply
  3. Sierra @ H is for Homeschooling says

    December 7, 2011 at 6:59 pm

    I love this!! I pinned it to use on one of Boogie’s trays later in the month.

    Sierra

    Reply
    • Katie says

      December 7, 2011 at 7:41 pm

      Awesome! Sierra please let me know how it goes!! 😀

      Reply
  4. The Mommies Made Me Do It says

    December 7, 2011 at 9:30 pm

    Brilliant! And super cute 🙂
    Visiting from It’s Playtime Linky!

    Reply
    • Katie says

      December 7, 2011 at 9:51 pm

      Thanks 😀 And Thanks for stopping by!

      Reply
  5. Beth says

    December 8, 2011 at 3:56 am

    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 =-)

    Reply
    • Katie says

      December 8, 2011 at 8:50 am

      Thanks Beth! Your kiddos will LOVE the Reindeer!! Let me know if you end up making one!

      Reply
  6. Deb@ Living Montessori Now says

    December 8, 2011 at 5:22 pm

    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/.

    Reply
    • Katie says

      December 8, 2011 at 5:31 pm

      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! 😀

      Reply
  7. Jenny Anne says

    December 9, 2011 at 10:04 am

    That is just the cutest thing! I am going to go make one immediately. Thanks!

    Reply
    • Katie says

      December 9, 2011 at 1:00 pm

      Thnaks Jenny Anne! let me know how you like it!

      Reply
  8. Shiloh says

    December 9, 2011 at 10:48 am

    What a fun idea! You could make it a mailbox too. This is so cool!

    Reply
    • Katie says

      December 9, 2011 at 1:01 pm

      Shiloh that is a great idea!!

      Reply
  9. Carrie @ Crafty Moms Share says

    December 9, 2011 at 7:19 pm

    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!

    Reply
    • Katie says

      December 10, 2011 at 8:42 am

      I’ll be linking up Carrie! 😀

      Reply
  10. Erin says

    December 10, 2011 at 4:59 am

    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

    Reply
    • Katie says

      December 10, 2011 at 8:41 am

      Thanks Erin! (You can always take the tissues out and put in a pretty basket 😉 )

      Reply
  11. Stefanie says

    December 10, 2011 at 11:00 am

    Adorable!!!

    Reply
    • Katie says

      December 10, 2011 at 5:52 pm

      Thanks Stafanie!

      Reply
  12. Rachel says

    December 14, 2011 at 9:22 pm

    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!

    Reply
    • Katie says

      December 14, 2011 at 9:29 pm

      Thanks Rachel! 🙂 Let me know if you make it, I want to see pictures!! 😉

      Reply
  13. Beth says

    December 15, 2011 at 6:53 am

    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 =-)

    Reply
    • Katie says

      December 15, 2011 at 9:14 am

      Fantastic! Thanks Beth!

      Reply
  14. Lindsi B says

    December 16, 2011 at 6:40 am

    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/

    Reply
    • Katie says

      December 17, 2011 at 1:45 pm

      Lindsi, thank you!!! I’ll be heading over there soon, thanks so much for the feature! 😀

      Reply
  15. Nicole says

    December 17, 2011 at 8:17 am

    Cute idea!

    Reply
  16. Hilary says

    March 19, 2012 at 10:08 am

    These printables would work beautifully with a “bunny” leading up to Easter!! I think I will make it now! Thanks! 🙂

    Reply
    • Katie says

      March 19, 2012 at 1:22 pm

      Yes Hilary, I am planning a post on this VERY idea. I thought of this when I was making my Reindeer!

      Reply
  17. The Activity Mom says

    October 30, 2013 at 12:20 pm

    LOVE!
    I would love to include this activity in my 2013 Christmas Activity Advent Countdown. I would include a pic and a link to your site for the directions. If you don’t want me to share this, please let me know.

    Thanks!
    Nicole

    Reply
    • Katie says

      October 30, 2013 at 3:56 pm

      I’d be honored! Leave me the link when it’s live!

      Reply
  18. Sheryl P says

    December 8, 2015 at 10:52 am

    I was so excited to see this activity and wanted to download the book The Very Hungry Reindeer as well – but it seems like it is no longer available. Any chance I could get a copy somehow? Thanks!

    Reply
  19. Karen says

    October 9, 2016 at 5:34 pm

    This is adorable. I will definitely be using this during my circle time for my 3 year olds. Thanks for sharing such a cute idea.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Freebie Friday: The Very Hungry Bunny {Printable Book} says:
    March 30, 2012 at 3:06 am

    […] 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 […]

    Reply
  2. 2013 Christmas Activity Advent Countdown says:
    November 7, 2013 at 5:58 am

    […] 5. Very Hungry Reindeer […]

    Reply
  3. Fun Stuff Fridays | Toys In The Dryer says:
    December 10, 2013 at 8:07 am

    […] favorite pick from this past week was Mr. Reindeer submitted by Playing With Words 365.  For starters, the reindeer is so adorable! It’s a great way to engage your child in […]

    Reply
  4. Christmas Activities for Preschoolers says:
    November 8, 2016 at 9:53 am

    […] would make a fun craft for preschoolers!) but this Christmas activity is full of learning! This Mr. Reindeer by Playing with Words 365 makes practicing letters and numbers lots of fun!  It reminds me of our […]

    Reply
  5. Fun Stuff Fridays says:
    December 21, 2016 at 9:11 am

    […] favorite pick from this past week was Mr. Reindeer submitted by Playing With Words 365.  For starters, the reindeer is so adorable! It’s a great way to engage your child in […]

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