Preschool Learning Activities: Reindeer Unit Study

Preschool Learning Activities for a Reindeer Themed Unit

By Amanda Boyarshinov

Dear Parents and Teachers – this month at The Educators’ Spin On It site we have been sharing some amazingly fun reindeer themed learning activities for ALL areas of study; reading, math, science, social studies, art, cooking, and movement. We invite you to look around for more ways to interact with your child and enrich their learning this winter season and hope to inspire you to make everyday activities, learning opportunities. That’s what parenting with purpose is all about!

Reindeer Learning Activity Post 1 Includes:

Shape Identification and Reindeer Building
Reindeer Reading
Reindeer Habitat Stamping
Handprint Pillow
Reindeer Frame

Stop by here to find material lists and directions for each of the activities listed above.

Reindeer Learning Activity Post 2 Includes:

Dialog and Storytelling with Finger Puppets
Preschool Learning Station Set Up
Reindeer Sandwich
Snowflake Slide (a winter version of Chutes and Ladders)
Reindeer Roller – ECO Craft and Movement Activity

Stop by here to find material lists and directions for each of the activities listed above.

Stop by here to find links to the above lists.

An Invitation to LEARN:

Today, I share with you our Love Books Reindeer Basket – Our Invitation to Learn and How We Put it all Together.

This is a basket that I put together using some of our props and “reindeer” themed learning items. I would randomly set this basket out for my preschooler to find and more often than not, he was asking to do our daily reindeer activity. It kept our playful preschool fun and exciting. Who can resist a basket with antlers and jingle bells? They scream put me on. Shake ME! Play with me.

Although I plan to do one learning activity a day, I try to prepare at least 3 ahead of time, just in case he is excited about the given activities and wants to do more. I set out the activities that I want to do with my child the night before and try to interact during the morning hours. This tends to by my son’s best learning and participating time. There are mornings in which we abandon all plans for “scheduled” math or reading and activities and snuggle up and read for long periods of time. This isn’t bad at all – we talk about the story structure, discuss plot lines and characters, we interact. Other times we both may put on reindeer antlers and race around the house like, well… reindeer. That’s ok too – we are moving, pretending, and using our imaginations. I personally think that is what preschool learning should look like – PLAYFUL!!!

Even if you are not in a reindeer mood – Some of our Blogging Friends shared this great Playful Preschool ideas on our Facebook Sharing Day. Here are just a few of the ideas shared, stop by to check them out!

A Scented Bin from Where Imagination Grows, Felt Garland Measuring Activity from The Connection We Share, A Stamped Gingerbread House from A Beautiful Ruckus, Adorable Footprint Wrapping Paper at How Wee Learn, Learning Trays from Me and Marie Learning, Math Activity Tray from Little Bins for Little Hands, Christmas Tree Sensory Bin from House of Burke, Creating a Print Rich Environment from Growing Book By Book, White Clay Ornaments from Happy Hooligans, Australian 12 Days of Christmas Yoga Sequence at Kids Yoga Stories.
and my absolute favorites from this week…

FIZZ PAINTING from Gift of Curiosity
and
Math Tree Stamping from Buggy and Buddy. (in fact, we already made our version of it using construction paper and dot markers!)