Reindeer Coloring Page
About This Coloring Page
A reindeer is the Christmas character that is also a real animal, which makes it the easiest December page to hand to a very young child. There is nothing to explain first. It has four legs, a tail, a nose and a pair of antlers, and a two-year-old who has never heard the story can still point to every part and name it.
The antlers are where the work is. They branch like a small tree, each prong a narrow shape with an edge on both sides, and colouring them carefully takes the same finger control as writing between two lines. The body is the opposite: one big open area where broad strokes are fine, so the page has an easy part and a careful part and a child can choose which to start with.
The nose is left round and empty on purpose. Most children know what colour they think it should be, and saying so out loud is the beginning of the story. Whether this is that reindeer or just a reindeer is a decision the drawing leaves to the person holding the crayon.
Skills Practiced
How to Use This Coloring Page
- Name the parts before colouring. Antlers, hooves, tail, nose. Antlers and hooves are new words for most preschoolers, and a picture is the easiest place to learn them.
- Do the antlers slowly, the body fast. Narrow shapes first while attention is fresh, then the big open body as the reward.
- Ask what colour the nose is. Then ask why. The answer is usually a whole story, and telling it is language practice.