Festive Reindeer Craft for Kindergarten

Are you looking for a fun holiday craft for your students to do in the weeks leading up to the holiday break?  If you liked my 3D thankful turkey craft, you’ll love this fun reindeer craft for kindergarten. In this post, I’m going to share this unique reindeer activity that can be used in a variety of ways!

Benefits of Using Crafts in Kindergarten

Even during the busy month of December, it’s worth the time and effort to keep crafts in your regular routine.  Your students will benefit in several ways from creating crafts:

• Fine Motor Practice:  As students cut, glue, and fold to create crafts, they are strengthening their hands and improving their coordination.  These skills are important for young learners as they work to improve their pencil grip for writing and other tasks.

• Following Directions:  Many crafts, like the fun reindeer craft I’m going to share with you today, have specific instructions that need to be followed for the craft to turn out. As students practice following directions to create crafts, they are learning an important skill that will benefit them for years to come.

• Channel Seasonal Excitement:  As winter break approaches, you can almost feel the excitement in the classroom.  Your students are eagerly anticipating the upcoming holiday season! Crafts are a fun way to help students channel that seasonal excitement into purposeful activity.

3D Reindeer Craft for Kindergarten

Are you ready to take a closer look at this fun 3D reindeer craft? This cute reindeer is coming straight from the North Pole with a bag full of gifts!  This simple craft is made from several templates copied onto construction paper.  Another option is to copy the templates onto white paper and have students color each piece of the craft before assembling.

Students will assemble their reindeer with a fun 3D feature.  The bag of gifts provides additional support to help the craft stand up on its own. This means the final product can sit pretty much anywhere!

5 Ways to Use This Reindeer Craft in Kindergarten

The best part about this reindeer craft is that it can be used in many different ways, depending on what you’d like to focus on with your students. The reindeer can hold a variety of different signs that correspond to whatever your students are writing on the gifts for this craft.

1. Name Spelling Practice

The first option for this activity is name-spelling practice!  Your students can write one letter of their name on each gift.  I suggest writing in pencil first and then tracing over it in black marker to make it stand out!  If your student’s name has too many letters to fit on the top of the bag, presents can also be attached down the sides of the bag.

2. Family Name Practice

Another fun way to use this reindeer craft is to help students practice identifying the people in their family.  You’ll want to be sensitive to your students’ living situations as you help them decide on the names to put on each gift.  They will be so excited to take home the final product to share with their families!

3. Christmas Wishlist

Instead of a letter to Santa, your students can use this reindeer craft as their holiday wishlist!  Each gift in the reindeer’s bag can list something that the student would like to receive.  Holiday wish lists can be a great source of information about your students’ interests.  This is helpful when deciding on classroom rewards, additions to the classroom library, and more!  You’ll be able to base these choices on things your students find interesting.

4. Holiday Decoration

Another festive option is to treat this reindeer as a holiday decoration.  The reindeer can even hold a “Happy Holidays” sign! This craft would make a great addition to your classroom holiday decor during the month of December.  Since they can sit up on their own, they can sit on bookshelves, desks, or windowsills! 

When winter break rolls around, the bag of gifts can be removed to make it easier for students to take their crafts home.  They can quickly put the craft back together when they’re ready to put it on display at their own house.

5. Anything You Want!

You might also decide to use a blank sign for the reindeer to hold.  This means you can completely customize this activity for the needs of your class.  Could your students use more practice with color words?  The reindeer could hold a sign that says “My Favorite Colors” and then have gifts that match the students’ favorite colors.  Before attaching the gifts to the bag, students can write the color words that match each present.

Your students might also like to give their reindeer a name! The gifts can be used to spell out the name of each reindeer.  It’s so fun to see the creative reindeer names when they are all on display in the classroom!

The possibilities for this activity really are endless! You can use this reindeer craft to enhance any academic practice you’ll be doing in your class during December.

Printable Reindeer Craft Template

Everything you need to create this adorable reindeer can be found in one printable resource. This download includes the printable craft template with materials for all of the options mentioned above.  You’ll also find easy-to-follow assembly instructions with pictures of each and every step.

If you’d like to take a closer look at everything included in this download, you can find this reindeer craft in the A Spoonful of Learning Shop or on Teachers Pay Teachers.

Save This Kindergarten Reindeer Craft

I hope that this craft idea can help you bring some festive fun to your classroom!  Your students might also enjoy adding a holiday twist to centers, as well. You could also bring added festivity to your classroom with a Christmas unit study or a fun gingerbread man thematic unit.

If you’d like to create this fun 3D construction paper reindeer with your students, be sure to save this post!  You’ll be able to quickly find this holiday craft whenever you’re ready to download and print.