Santa’s reindeer are on the loose! Can you help round them all up in time for the big night?
Print and cut out the nine reindeer cards included in this download and ask a family member to hide them around the house. Then grab your Reindeer Tracker sheet, a pencil, and a coin as you head out to find and catch the reindeer.When you find a reindeer, you’ll need to decide which bait to use to catch it:
🍓 Berries cost the fewest repetitions also only give you one flip of the coin.
🍎 Apples cost more repetitions to use but give you two coin flips!
🥕 Carrots are a reindeer’s favourite! They cost the most repetitions but give you three coin flips!
All you need is to get “heads” once to catch the reindeer! Be careful: if you miss it (i.e. you only get tails), then you will have to wait until the next day or until you catch another reindeer to try to catch that elusive reindeer again!
Build One: Getting Ready
To get ready for this activity, students will need to print out the Reindeer Card Sheet and the Reindeer Tracker sheet. With the sheets printed out, they can cut out the cards and tracker using scissors, making sure to be extra careful as they do so.
The Reindeer Card sheet includes nine individual reindeer cards and each card has a playing card code featured in the top left corner. These codes are there for students who may not have access to a printer at home. In that situation, students can switch out the reindeer cards for playing cards in order to be able to play. They’ll just need to have the digital Reindeer Card sheet handy so that they can follow along.
Once the reindeer cards are ready, students can ask a parent, guardian, or another family member to go hide all nine cards around the house!
Build Two: Reindeer Round-Up!
With the reindeer cards hidden, we’re ready to get into the game.
Santa Claus has been getting ready for Christmas but his reindeer escaped and are on the loose! They are hiding all around the house and he needs help rounding them all up in time for the big night!
To get this done, students will need their Reindeer Tracker sheet as well as a pencil and a coin. With their materials in hand, they can start searching for the reindeer.
When a student has found a hidden reindeer card, they’ll try to catch that reindeer by flipping their coin. If they flip the coin and get heads, the reindeer is caught and can be logged in their Reindeer Tracker sheet. If they flip the coin and get tails, the reindeer escaped and can’t be logged. They’ll only be allowed to try and catch that reindeer again either the next day or once they have successfully caught a different reindeer.
Now, when students find a reindeer, they don’t just flip their coin right away: they’ll have to complete some exercise first!The exercise movement that the student must perform is indicated on the reindeer card. The number of repetitions of that movement that they must complete will depend on which bait they choose to use to lure the reindeer in.
Reindeer like blueberries, but they’re little and not super effective. Although using blueberries as bait requires students to perform the least amount of repetitions, blueberries also only give students one coin flip to try and get the heads they need to catch that reindeer.
Apples are definitely more effective than blueberries when trying to bait a reindeer! That’s why they cost more repetitions to be able to use them. However, going with an apple gives students two coin flips to try and catch that reindeer! Remember: they only need to get heads once to make the catch.
Finally, carrots are reindeer’s favourite snacks! They cost the most repetitions but grant students three coin flips, which gives them the best odds of successfully catching the reindeer!
As students successfully round-up reindeer, they get to log the reindeer into their tracker and can even make notes on where they found the reindeer and which bait they used to successfully catch it. The game goes on until a student has successfully rounded up all nine of Santa’s reindeer!
Students should participate in active clothing.
Students should always look at their surroundings before performing exercises.
