December is always a fun, but very busy, month in the kindergarten classroom! Students are eager to have some seasonal fun but they also need to sharpen up their academic skills before the long break. It can be a little difficult to find engaging seasonal activities that are not related to Christmas. This is when a reindeer unit can be helpful solution! These reindeer activities for kindergarten can keep your students engaged with seasonal content while practicing important skills.
8 Engaging Kindergarten Reindeer Activities
I’m going to share some of my favorite reindeer activities that are fun to include in December lesson plans. These are perfect for a reindeer unit, but you could also use some of them as standalone activities if that works better for your classroom.
This unit is based on nonfiction reindeer text, so it’s not tied to any sort of holiday celebrations. However, it can bring just the right amount of seasonal fun to your classroom so your students will be able to channel some of their holiday excitement into worthwhile learning activities!
1. Nonfiction Reindeer Read Aloud
A great way to start a reindeer unit is with an engaging nonfiction read aloud. This gives students the chance to learn interesting facts about reindeer. It also provides a helpful introduction to the topic of your unit in an engaging way. The remaining activities in the unit can help solidify this new learning.
2. Close Reading Passages
Each page of the informational text has a corresponding close reading passage. Students can use these passages to practice important comprehension skills like identifying text evidence.
As you read through these passages multiple times, students will have different questions to focus on as they read. Repeated readings can help students deepen their understanding of the text.
3. Schema Chart
Students can document everything they’re learning about reindeer on a schema chart. This whole-class schema chart is perfect for group discussions as you read the nonfiction text together as a class.
Students can add their new learning to the chart and then refer back to it as they complete their own schema chart on paper.
4. Chit-Chat Messages
Chit-chat messages are a great way to incorporate your reindeer theme into the daily routine. When students arrive in the morning, they can fill in the blanks of their reindeer chit-chat message.
You can also display the message on the board and fill it in as a shared writing experience.
5. Comprehension Activities
Students can continue to review what they’re learning about reindeer with a variety of comprehension activities.
For example, this fact or fiction activity has students choose a reindeer fact card from a bag (this paper bag reindeer is a fun option). They will read the card and decide if it’s fact or fiction. Once they’ve decided, they will find and color that fact on their response sheet based on the code.
6. Reindeer Vocabulary
One of the best parts of using nonfiction read alouds in kindergarten is that they are exposed to many new vocabulary words! You can use these full-color vocabulary cards in many different ways to help students review these new words so they stick!
You can reference these vocabulary words as you read the nonfiction passages with your students. You could also hang the cards around the classroom for a write the room center. No matter how you decide to use these vocabulary cards, they will come in handy during your reindeer unit!
7. Reindeer Glyph
Celebrate everything you’ve learned with your students during the reindeer unit with a fun craft! This reindeer glyph craft incorporates some discussion points that are the perfect addition to your reindeer studies.
Students will answer three questions:
- Would you want a reindeer for a pet?
- Have you ever seen a real reindeer?
- Which type of weather do you like best?
Each of those questions comes with two choices for the answer. The students’ answers to the questions will coordinate with different color choices for the reindeer craft. For example, if the student has seen a real reindeer before, they will use yellow paper for their antlers. If they haven’t seen one, they will use brown paper for their antlers.
These completed reindeer glyphs look adorable on a bulletin board! Students are always so excited to see their work on display and they like to compare and contrast their reindeer with those of their classmates.
8. Directed Drawing
You can also use an art project to help students practice their fine motor skills as they also work on following directions. This reindeer directed drawing activity is always fun for young kindergarten students; they love to watch their reindeer take shape as they follow the directions. They are always so proud of their artwork!
This activity is perfect for those awkward pockets of time that are so common in December, when assemblies finish a few minutes early or special guests are running late.
Printable Reindeer Activities for Kindergarten
I hope this post has given you some inspiration for engaging activities that you can use to put together a reindeer unit for your students. To save you some time, I’ve created a resource that’s full of engaging activities that you can use to put together a thematic unit for your students.
This resource includes all of the activities in this post (and more!) for over 80 pages of reindeer learning fun! These activities are a great way to have some seasonal fun in your classroom without focusing on a specific holiday.
If you’d like to take a closer look at everything included in this resource, you can find it in my TPT store.
More December Ideas for Kindergarten
Are you looking for even more time-saving ideas for December? You might be interested in some of these other blog posts:
- Catch that Cookie Reading Lesson Plans
- Gingerbread Fun Classroom Activities for Kindergarten
- Gingerbread Week Lesson Plans for Kindergarten and First Grade
- Christmas Calendar Parent Gift Ideas for the Classroom
Save These Reindeer Activities for Kindergarten
Be sure to save this post so you can come back to it later! Just add the pin below to your favorite kindergarten board on Pinterest. You’ll be able to quickly find these kindergarten reindeer activities when you’re working on your December lesson plans.
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