Reindeer, Reindeer Don't You Stop

Christmas really is just around the corner and our festive activities are well underway. 



I wanted to introduce a Christmas song with our EFL babies and toddlers but traditional English carols are way too long and complicated. So, I adapted a song that they already knew and really enjoyed and made it into a Christmas one. Problem solved.

As well as the song, we shared a hand printing activity and a  Christmas storybook. These activities can be easily adapted for children up to about 7 years old.

Our very young learners really enjoy the nursery rhyme Horsie, Horsie and who wouldn't with all that bobbing and bouncing? I changed the words a bit and it became Reindeer, Reindeer!

Reindeer, Reindeer

Reindeer, reindeer
Don't you stop!
Just let your feet go clippety-clop
Your tail goes swish,
And your nose shines bright
Giddy-up with Santa tonight

Here is the original, just to get you in the mood!

What you will need for the song:

a basket with a variety of wrist/ankle bells (these ones make a really lovely sound and are well made too)

a reindeer puppet (mine came in a finger puppet pack from IKEA and I stuck on a red pom pom for Rudolph's nose)

a Santa hand/finger puppet

a reindeer headband (see instructions below)

I started with the Santa hand puppet. He introduced himself by saying hello to the children and parents. Oh, Santa looks sad. I said, What's happened Santa? He explained that he has lost Rudolph, his reindeer Can you help me find him? He asked us. So, we did reindeer, reindeer, where are you? We shouted and looked around the room. 

Then we heard some bells What's that? Bells? Sleigh bells? I put on the reindeer finger puppet and galloped around the room shaking the bells. I then sat down and Rudolph introduced himself to the children. Hello, I'm Rudolph, I'm a reindeer. Look at my shiny nose. 

Now that Santa was happy we decided it was time for a sing song. When I first introduce new songs, I usually sing them (and clap or slap my thighs) a few times myself. The parents join in when they can and I check for pronunciation.  I then hand out the song sheets. We sing it all together a few more times and then we add the actions. The older children are encouraged to join in too.

The children sat on their parents laps either facing their parents or facing in towards the circle and they were bounced to the steady beat of the Christmas song. Giggles all around as per usual!!

The children were then invited to put on wrist or ankle bells as we galloped around the room, pulling Santa's imaginary sleigh. Babies on shoulders or hips, toddlers galloping beside their parents.

Then we made our own reindeer antlers.

Painted hand print antlers 

What you will need:

Long strips of brown construction paper (about 50 cm to fit around child's head)

A4 card for each child

Brown paint 

Paint brush for each child

sellotape

Red non toxic face paints
a paper plate to squeeze the paint onto
a bowl of warm soapy water and towels for a quick clean-up!

Instructions

1 Paint your child's hand with brown paint and gently push it down onto the white card, leaving enough space at the bottom to draw the stem of the antlers. Older children can paint their own/their partners hands

2 Draw a stem for each antler

3 When dry, cut out the antlers

4 Make a headband to fit your child's head from brown construction paper

5 Sellotape the antlers onto the headband

6 Paint the tip on your child's nose with non-toxic face paint/crayon

Crayon hand prints

For an easier and much less messy variation use crayons instead of paint!

You will need:

Strips of brown construction paper

A4 paper for each child

Pencils

Brown crayons or pastels

Scissors

Sellotape

Instructions:

1 Draw around your child's hand, draw around the wrist and 5 cms of the arm too. Children colour their antlers

2 Depending on the age of your children, children or adult cut out the antlers

3 Sellotape them onto the inside of the headband

4 Paint the nose red

We finished off our session by sharing That's Not My Reindeer by Rachel Wells. This was great way to revise parts of the body vocabulary because of it's lovely touchy, feely textures on every page. Babies LOVE these books and so do I!