Puzzle Piece Reindeer

Sometimes it takes other people's kids to get me looking for project ideas. I was babysitting the other day and promised the kids we'd do a Christmas craft. After some searching online, I found these reindeer pins made out of puzzle pieces. I had all of the supplies already, so we made out own version.

Since I was working with various ages it needed to be kind of simple, but fun for all. We used big puzzle pieces so instead of a pin we just made a decoration (or add a string or ribbon loop on top and it could be an ornament too).

Supplies needed: 3 puzzle pieces (this could be any size - from one with missing pieces, one that never really had that interlocking thing go very well, etc.), brown paint, white paint (optional if you want to make the antlers a lighter color), brushes, pom pom for nose, googly eyes, and glue. Optional: green and red  felt or foam. (For the holly berries we actually just cut off the round part on the ends of foam letters for our little circles.)

First paint the 3 puzzle pieces and then let them dry.

Once they are dry, pick out where you'd like the antler and glue them on. Don't be afraid to use a lot of glue here. I think more is better just because the cardboard is kid of heavy. At this point we also glued on our pom poms and stuck on our eyes. I forgot to snap anymore pictures. The holly leaf was just cut out of foam and I described our method for the berries above.

All the kids had a great time and were proud of their work.