How to make Christmas Reindeer Decoration | STEM Little Explorers
It’s Christmas time and that means decorations are everywhere! But rather than buying another set of sparkling lights, why not try to make decorations yourself? The beautiful scent of cinnamon is an extra touch that will make it even more special. This is a great Christmas activity in which you can practice your artistic and engineering skills
Why are Reindeers pulling Santa sleigh?
The Reindeers and Santa bringing presents is a relatively new tradition and it dates back to the year 1823. Then, Clement Clarke Moore wrote the poem The Night Before Christmas that describes Santa Claus as we know him today.
But Raindeers pulling sleigh date way back, to the Norse mythology, where god Thor was transported in a chariot pulled by reindeers (or horned goats in some versions). Also, reindeers were domesticated for more than 2 000 years and had a rich history of helping humans in most arctic and subarctic regions of the world. Reindeers were also used in World War 2 by Russians to pull supplies and injured soldiers through the harsh winter terrain.
For centuries, raindeers were associated with winter festivities in Eastern Europe and Scandinavia. During the Middle ages, Eastern Europe and Scandinavia were starting to convert to Christianity and the ancient symbolism of a reindeer became a part of Chrismas celebration.
The Reindeers are the symbol of creativity, knowledge, and resourcefulness. They also symbolize a safe journey and endurance trough travels. No wonder the raindeers were chosen to pull Santa sleigh since he is on the difficult mission. He needs to deliver gifts to all the children of the world in just one night! And for that, he surely needs help from these magnificent animals.
Legend of Santa Claus’s reindeer
Christmas Eve means presents from Santa, right? We leave him milk and cookies, we write him letters, we try to be a good whole year to get our presents… But let’s talk about his little helpers, flying reindeers who make it possible for Santa to delivers all those presents!
According to the legend, there are eight of them: Vixen, Dancer, Dasher, Prancer, Comet, Donner, Cupid and Blitzen. They pull Santa’s sleigh on Christmas Eve so he can deliver those presents all around the world. How do they fly? No one knows. But what about Rudolph, isn’t he the most famous of all reindeer?
Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer
The first mention of Rudolph was in a booklet by Robert L. May in 1939. He was a young reindeer, mocked by his peers because he was different. He had a huge luminous red nose, unique to him and because of it, he was rejected and lonely. Despite that, he never gave up on trying to be helpful and kind to everyone around him.
And everything changed one Christmas Eve when dense fog prevented Santa from moving forward with his sleigh. Rudolph’s shiny nose was still clearly visible so Santa managed to navigate with his help and brought presents to the children. Since then, Rudolph became the ninth reindeer, leading Santa’s sleigh every Christmas Eve.
So in the end, his greatest “flaw” actually helped everyone and made him famous. And the other reindeer learned not to judge so quickly.
And now when we brushed up on legend and history of Santa and his four-legged helpers, let’s get to making our own Christmas cinnamon reindeer.
Materials needed for Christmas reindeer
- Cinnamon sticks
- Hot glue
- Decorative ribbon
- Cloth ribbon (you can use an old t-shirt for this)
- Scissors
- Plastic eyes
Instructions on how to make Christmas reindeer
Making Christmas Reindeer decoration is very simple and there are lots of opportunities for creativity.
For step by step instructions on one of the ways, you can make it, watch the video at the beginning of the article!
- Connect two cinnamon sticks in V shape and glue them with the hot glue (be careful!). Put the third stick on top of that, so you get a reverse A shape. You got a face. Look at those antlers!
- Now glue the plastic eyes, one on each side of the face.
- Take red cloth ribbon and roll it until you are satisfied with the size — this will be the nose. Glue it on the bottom of the face (tip of the V shape).
- Glue the decorative ribbon on the back of the reindeer
- It’s done, you can put it on a Christmas tree or gift to someone. Not only it’s cute but it also smells great!
What will you develop and learn by making Christmas reindeer
- Fine motor skills and oculomotor coordination
- Creativity
- Concepts of prejudice and discrimination
If you’re for some more festive activities, be sure to check How to Make a Toilet Roll Christmas Tree. And for more creative activities, we recommend How to make homemade plastic and How to make Cardboard Castle. We wish you a merry Christmas! Hopefully, Rudolph will manage to navigate Santa to your home this year!
Originally published at https://www.stemlittleexplorers.com on December 11, 2019.
