Paper bag puppets are a classic kids’ craft idea that kids today still love!

It’s just so much fun to take a boring old brown bag and make it into something new and exciting.

And since it’s the Christmas season, we of course had to make a Xmas themed paper bag puppet.

This reindeer paper bag craft is a festive craft we’re sure the kids will have fun with.

Make it with a red nose, like ours, so it’s Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer or with a black nose to be any of Santa’s other reindeer.

Also, be sure to check out all of our fun reindeer crafts for kids! Read on below or watch our step by step video tutorial below to see how to make this craft with your kids or students!

Reindeer Paper Bag Puppet

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Related: Handprint Reindeer Craft For Kids

Supplies

• Brown paper bag
• Colored cardstock or construction paper
• Kraft paper
• Scissors
• Glue stick
• Reindeer paper bag puppet template (enter your email in the form at the end of this post to have the link sent to you)

Directions

Download the reindeer template, print it out, and cut out the pieces.

Cut out a rectangle approximately 4″x6″ from the cream card stock. Glue this onto the bottom of the paper bag.

Place the reindeer harness on the halfway mark of the cream rectangle and glue it into place.

Position the jingle bells evenly along the harness and glue them down.

Trim off the harness excess.

Glue the red reindeer nose onto the cream muzzle, then glue it halfway on the brown paper bag flap.

Glue the 2 eyes to the top of the paper bag flap.

Position the two pink cheeks on either side of the muzzle and glue into place.

Glue the cream inner ear to the larger out ears, then place them on either side of the back of the paper bag flap. Glue them in place.

Glue the antlers to the back, top of the paper bag.

You’re done! This reindeer puppet craft is so simple and quick! It makes a fun Christmas craft for kids.

As you can see in the video above, we glued kraft paper onto the brown paper bag before starting this craft. This is not necessary, but it does make the reindeer puppet look more finished in the end.

If you’re doing this craft with very young kids who won’t care what it looks like, just skip this step and use the brown paper bag as is.

Puppet Template Notes

Included in the free printable download are two different versions of the template.

The first one has all of the pieces on one page. If you have 1-2 kids doing this craft, we’d recommend you use this version of the template. All you need to do is print it out on white cardstock, then cut out the pieces.

If you’re doing this craft with older children, they can trace the template pieces on the colored paper that they correspond to.

If you’re doing this craft with younger children, you’ll need to trace it onto the other paper and cut them out before the crafting begins.

Are you planning on making this craft with a group of kids at school, at daycare, or maybe for library storytime? If so, opt for the second version of the template. In this version, the pieces are sorted out by the colored paper they are to be printed on.

Each page will have a bunch of one item (all noses, all antlers, etc) so that the pieces only need to be cut out once. There’s no retracing and it helps speed up the prep work of this craft.

No matter where you make this craft, we bet kids will love making and playing with it!

Christmas Unit For Kids

Keep going with all the Christmas festivities by creating an entire Christmas themed unit study to go with this reindeer craft! Read on below for our favorite ideas to get you started.

Reading to your children (or students) is a great way to help with their development. That’s why we always recommend starting a new unit with books!

Below are some of the top Christmas books to read to your kids!

Dasher: This wonderfully illustrated Christmas book for kids gives you the back story on one of Santa’s favorite reindeer, Dasher! Girls will especially love to read this since Dasher is a girl.

Construction Site On Christmas Night: Fans of the fun characters of the construction site books have to add this Christmas-themed story to their collection. See how the trucks get ready for Christmas!

How To Catch An Elf: Kids everywhere love the silliness of this Christmas story. The rhymes and the illustrations will draw the kids in as well. This is a Christmas book kids will want to read every year!

Christmas Crafts For Kids

Crafting is another activity that’s great for fine motor skills, creativity, stress relief, and more! Try adding in some more Christmas crafts:

Grinch Handprint Craft – The Grinch is a classic character from a beloved holiday story. And what could be more adorable than a cute, young Grinch handprint craft for kids to make from paper? This simple and fun project is perfect for little ones who want to get into the holiday spirit. Your child will love seeing their very own Grinch come to life – and you’ll love the sweet holiday memories that this craft will create.

Paper Plate Santa Craft For Kids – The most anticipated guest of the year is almost here, and your little ones can’t wait to meet him! With this Santa craft, kids can make their own special project. They’ll love watching Santa climb up and down the chimney as they move him around.

Paper Plate Grinch Craft For Kids – With just a few supplies, you can transform a paper plate and some construction paper into a Grinch craft that will make your holiday season merry and bright!

Elf On The Shelf Gingerbread Man Disguise – The gingerbread man is a timeless Christmas story that your kids are sure to love. With this fun craft, your kids can disguise the gingerbread man as the elf on the shelf!

Kids’ Christmas Activities

Practice letter recognition and counting skills with these Christmas do a dot printables. They’re great as a preschool, pre-k, or kindergarten activity. These festive holiday worksheets will help your kids learn during the Christmas season!

Kids can learn about shapes and colors while having fun when they use these Christmas pattern block mats. They’re a great way to help them work on their fine motor skills too. Use them at home or in the classroom this holiday season!

Sensory play is such a great activity for young children to do on a regular basis! This nativity play dough kit or this Grinch play dough kit are both loaded with fun holiday play!

Christmas Fun

• Have Santa accidentally drop his sleigh driver’s license for some festive magic!
• These reindeer candy cane sleeves are a great small gift for the classroom or friends.
• Grab your kids one of these cute personalized drink tumblers.

Share With Us

We love seeing how your crafts turn out! Be sure to snap a picture of the completed project and share it with us.

Post a picture of your reindeer puppet on our Facebook wall or in our private Facebook group.

Free Reindeer Template