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You’ll love these reindeer crafts for kids that are perfect for the holiday season! Reindeer feature on gift wrap, cards, puppets, printables and more!

Old Santeclaus with much delight
His reindeer drives this frosty night.
O’er chimneytops, and tracks of snow,
To bring his yearly gifts to you.

It is common knowledge that Santa‘s reindeer help him travel across the world on Christmas eve, but did you know that this little poem is the first mention of it? Yes, it’s the first-ever mention of Santa’s reindeer, way back in 1821!

The complete team of Santa’s eight reindeer was revealed in the 1823 poem, ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas. It explained how eight reindeer flew across the sky, pulling Santa’s sleigh, even listing out the names. Since then, reindeer have been an inescapable part of Christmas celebrations! 

If you’d like to read more about reindeer besides poems, here are some cute books to check out.

5 Adorable Kids’ Books about Reindeer

•  Olive, The Other Reindeer by Vivian Walsh
• Dasher by Matt Tavares
• The Great Reindeer Rebellion by Lisa Trumbauer
• Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer by Robert May
• Imogene’s Antlers by David Small

Once you’re done with the books, it’s time to move on to crafts!! Here are some cute and easy reindeer crafts for kids that they’ll enjoy this season!

15 Remarkable Reindeer Crafts for Kids

1. Popsicle Stick Reindeer Craft

We love this craft because of the different kinds of supplies used in it – googly eyes, craft sticks, pom poms and pipe cleaners as antlers. While most males of the deer species are the only ones to have antlers, reindeer are different – even the females have them!

2. Sponge Painted Reindeer Wrapping Paper

Reindeer belong to the deer family, along with the moose, elk and wapiti. In America, wild reindeer are called caribou, and the domesticated version are, well, reindeer! There are many such fun facts to learn about as you go about making these reindeer crafts for kids!

3. Reindeer Surprise Card Printable Template

How cute is this reindeer surprise Christmas card? Just download the template and make it! If you had to give a reindeer a surprise, what would you do? We’d recommend lichen, a reindeer’s favorite food, even though it eats grass, moss and ferns.

4. Reindeer Color by Number Printable

Take out all your colors – you’re going to need them for this color-by-number reindeer printable! By the way, did you know that reindeer also come in different colors? Based on where they live and the time of the year, reindeer may appear in lighter or darker shades.

5. Reindeer Color and Trace Printable

The little kids will love this printable sheet where they get to practice writing ‘R’ for reindeer. The word reindeer may seem like it originated from the word ‘reins’, considering they pull Santa’s sleigh, but it’s actually from the Norse word hreinin which means ‘horned animal’.

6. Reindeer Crayon Holder Coloring Page

We love our reindeer crafts for kids to be a little quirky too, like this ‘fawntastic’ printable crayon holder! Fawns are what baby reindeer are called, as well as calves. These newborn reindeer are ready to run from the get-go; there’s no other way they can catch up to their speedy Mamas!

7. Reindeer Quilling Gift Tag

If you’re considering giving someone a handmade gift this season, we recommend attaching this cute reindeer gift tag to it! If you’re wondering why this quilled reindeer’s nose is so red, it’s because that’s how it is in real life! Reindeer noses are packed with blood vessels that help the animals regulate their body temperature in extreme weather.

8. Christmas Reindeer Card

The next addition to this list of reindeer crafts for kids is an adorable card from Simple Everyday Mom. When you hand over this card to your special friend, gift them a little fun fact too – like the fact that reindeer are amazing swimmers, almost three times faster than the average human!

9. Printable Accordion Reindeer Craft

You can’t help but notice the noses on our reindeer crafts for kids, such as the large fluffy one on this reindeer craft from Kids Craft Room! In reality, reindeer noses are quite hairy, which helps warm the cold air before it enters their lungs. It also helps reindeer develop an excellent sense of smell – both for food and for escaping from danger!

10. Handprint Reindeer Craft

Can you name all eight of Santa’s reindeer? They’re Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, and Blitzen. Now use as many people as you need from your family and friends to make all eight of these reindeer, using the craft from Non Toy Gifts as a guide!

11. Rudolph the Reindeer Paper Craft

The most famous among Santa’s reindeer has got to be Rudolph, so it’s only natural to include him in this list of reindeer crafts for kids! The first mention of Rudolph was in a story by Robert L. May, in a coloring book for children who visited the Montgomery Ward store. If you need a Rudolph craft, I Heart Crafty Things has the perfect one!

12. Egg Carton Reindeer Craft

Crafty Morning has put egg cartons to good use, in making reindeer crafts for kids! They’ve added some googly eyes to show how important they are for reindeer – they’re the only mammals that can see ultraviolet light! Their eye colors also change with the season, being blue in the winter and yellow in the summer.

13. 3D Paper Reindeer Craft

Does this reindeer craft from The Craft Train remind you of the movie Frozen? I think it’s because of the falling snow in the background! In fact, the Northuldra tribe from the Frozen II movie is based on real people – the Sámi, famous reindeer herders of northern Norway.

14. Jingle Bells Rudolph Reindeer Craft

This cute card from Arty Crafty Kids will be perfect to place along with the milk and cookies for Santa! Speaking of milk, reindeer milk is the richest milk produced by any mammal on land, with 22% fat and 10% protein. Reindeer milk is often made into cheese in Nordic countries.

15. Paper Roll Reindeer Craft

How cute is this paper roll reindeer craft from Ocean Child? The reindeer here carries a tree – a reminder of how important these animals are to our ecosystem. When there was extreme rain in Siberia in 2013, all the excess water froze and made it difficult for reindeer to find food. As a result, about 60,000 animals starved to death. Climate change has been reported as one of the main reasons for such incidents.

When we speak about reindeer, our thoughts immediately go to Santa, his sleigh and rooftops! We hope that these reindeer crafts for kids have helped you learn a little more about the animal, outside of its association with Santa. There’s a lot more to learn about them; for instance, did you know that since Rudolph has antlers during winter, it is most likely a female?