Materials
Paper or Solo cup
2 craft sticks
6 spring-type clothespins
Small paper plate or piece of cardboard
2 googly eyes
Pompom for nose
Glue gun
Scissors or Exacto knife
A die (1/2 a pair of dice J)
Directions
Use the glue gun to glue the googly eyes and the pompom to the cup, making the reindeer’s face. Put a little glue around the base of the cup and stick it to the paper plate for stability. Cut a slit in the top of the cup wide enough to insert the craft sticks, which are the base of the antlers. Demonstrate to your child how to drop the die and touch the dots as you count them. One-to-one correspondence is tricky for children under 5, which is why they should touch each dot. They tend to rote count faster than their finger moves! Once they’ve counted the dots on the die, they may put that number of clothespins on the craft sticks, creating antlers. After they’ve added the clothespins, remove them, and try it again! Additionally, squeezing the clothespins is also great fine-motor practice!