As you’re planning your Christmas activities for preschoolers and kindergarten kids, be sure to include this fun reindeer graham cracker snack.
You don’t need many ingredients for the Christmas “cooking” activity, and the directions are easy to follow for young children. Plus, you can definitely differentiate the reindeer snack activity based on your students’ ages and needs (and allergies!).
I even have a simple, engaging way to incorporate early literacy skills into the reindeer snack-making progress! The kids are definitely having a blast as they learn and nibble.
Related: Christmas Snacks for Kids
When we first made this reindeer Christmas snack back in 2014, I thought it would be fun for the kids. Little did I realize how MUCH the children would enjoy it!
Over the years since that first snack making endeavor, I’ve made many reindeer crackers with kids (both my own kiddo and my students). It’s such fun to watch the little cooks as they consult our recipe and make a delicious snack for themselves.
Reindeer Graham Cracker Snack
We didn’t need too many things for these graham cracker reindeer. If you don’t have everything on this list, you can always change it up a bit.
I didn’t have any peanut or nut allergies the years we made this snack. If you do, be sure to grab the necessary alternatives. Touching base with those children’s parents can help.
How to Prep the Reindeer Snack
Start off, as always, by gathering the materials you’ll need. In this case, that’s mostly ingredients. Here’s what we used the very first time we around (I may get commissions for purchases made through links in this post):
- Graham crackers
- Peanut butter (Sun Butter or cream cheese are peanut-free alternatives)
- Raisins (candy eyes are a fun alternative we’ve tried since that first time)
- Mini pretzels
- M&Ms (raisins or skittles are peanut-free alternatives)
Related: Snowman Snacks
Once you’ve decided on your ingredients and have them ready, it’s time to set up the activity. Here’s what to do:
- Place the food out for your students. You can make individual containers or plates for each child, or you can let a few children share access to what they need.
- Set out paper or reusable plates, along with a napkin or paper towel.
- Don’t forget something to spread the peanut butter! I recommend giving each child their own child-sized knife or a plastic spoon.
- Prep your class “recipe” so all the steps are written out for the children. Be sure to add some visual cues.
Related: Christmas 5 Senses Book
Once you have everything set up, it’s time to gather your students and explain the process!
Reindeer Graham Cracker Snack Directions
First, have the children spread the peanut butter (or peanut butter alternative) on a graham cracker square. I gave children spoons and showed them how to use the rounded edge to spread the peanut butter. Butter knives would work well, too. I just used the spoons because they were readily available.
A few children didn’t like peanut butter, so they just skipped this step. As I mentioned above, use a peanut butter alternative if you have peanut allergies.
Next, have the kids make the reindeer faces:
- Two mini pretzels as the reindeer’s antlers
- Two raisins (or candy eyes) for the reindeer’s eyes
- An M&M (or raisin) for the reindeer’s nose.
Finally, let the children enjoy their Christmas snacks! I highly recommend having extra supplies on-hand so the kids can make more reindeer graham crackers.
Add Literacy to Your Reindeer Christmas Snacks for Kids
I mentioned above about writing out the recipe for your students, and I thought I’d expand on that a little bit.
Before we had our snack, I wrote out the directions for the children. I read it to them ahead of time, and we referred to it a few times while making our reindeer graham cracker snack.
Once the children knew what to do, I snapped a few pictures. I like to periodically take pictures of the children as they’re learning and playing throughout the school year.
I printed out some of the pictures of the kids making their snacks, added the pictures to our “recipe” and posted everything in the classroom! It was a great way to showcase some of the fun we have, and it made for some great shared reading later in the month.
What Do Kids Learn By Making a Reindeer Graham Cracker Snack?
Yes, making the reindeer crackers is super fun! And there’s nothing wrong with planning activities “just” because they’re fun!
But . . . we all know young children are learning ALL. THE. TIME. And making these graham cracker reindeers is no exception.
Here are some of the concepts covered with the snack making:
- Fine motor skills
- Life skills
- Following multi-step directions
- Counting
- Early reading skills
- Sensory exploration
- Descriptive vocabulary
- Shape identification
- Color identification
- Taking turns with their peers
I love that this simple snack gave the kids a chance to practice life, fine motor, literacy, AND math skills! Not too shabby, if I do say so myself.
Be sure to save this post for future reference. A Christmas Pinterest board is a great place to keep it!
More Reindeer Activities for Kids
If your students loved the reindeer graham cracker snack activity, I bet they’ll get a kick out of these reindeer-themed activities, too:
Christmas Lesson Plans
Let Preschool Teacher 101 save you some time this holiday season. We have hundreds of fully-developed, done-for-you early childhood resources. From lesson plans to digital games to dramatic play packs . . . we have you covered! And if you’re looking for help throughout the whole school year, be sure to join The Pack, our membership for preschool and kindergarten teachers.
Click on the image below for our Christmas lesson plans. Just what you need for your December lesson planning:
You can also find us on Teachers Pay Teachers.
Originally published December 3, 2014.
What a cute snack and awesome way to add literacy in too!
Thanks, Amanda! We really had so much fun making these, and the “recipe” chart was a hit.
My kids have been asking for “fun” lunches and snacks so this is perfect!
Thanks, Jodie! I definitely recommend giving the reindeer snack a try. 🙂
This is such a cute snack! Our kids would love it. I am pinning this.
Thanks for the pin and the kind words, Theresa! Let me know what your kids think if you give it a try.
I love these snacks! We actually made them last week after you posted! Great seasonal snack that was enjoyed by all (in fact, they asked to make them again this week!)
Oh I am so happy that you gave them a try!! My students asked to make them a couple more times, too! 🙂