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Popsicle Stick Reindeer Crafts My Son Actually Wants to Hang on the Tree
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items December hits and suddenly you need a craft activity that keeps a five-year-old busy for more than six minutes — without your kitchen looking like a glitter bomb went off. We've been making popsicle stick reindeer ornaments every year since my son wa...
Sections
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Popsicle Sticks and Craft Sticks That Don't Splinter
Kid-Safe Glue That Actually Holds Sticks Together
Googly Eyes That Make the Reindeer Look Hilarious
Red Pom Poms for the Rudolph Nose
Brown Paint and Markers for the Reindeer Body
Pipe Cleaners for Antlers That Hold Their Shape
Popsicle Sticks and Craft Sticks That Don't Splinter
The first year we did this, my son got a tiny splinter from cheap craft sticks and refused to touch them again for a week. Switched brands and never looked back.
Grab these if your kid has sensitive hands — they're sanded smooth enough that my son stopped complaining about rough edges after one project.
Horizon Group Usa Peel & Stick Wood Craft Sticks
Use the jumbo size for the reindeer body so little hands can grip and glue without everything sliding around. Wish someone told me this before our first lopsided attempt.
60 ct. (720 total) Jumbo Wood Craft Sticks by Creatology
Perfect for tiny antlers if you've got a preschooler whose reindeer keeps looking more like a blob than an animal — the mini size finally gave us recognizable antler shapes.
Creativity Street Mini Wood Craft Sticks
Keep a backup pack around because your kid WILL snap a few in half trying to be creative. Learned that lesson when we ran out mid-craft with a very upset four-year-old.
CraftySticks 6 Inch White Painted Wood Craft Sticks, 100ct
Kid-Safe Glue That Actually Holds Sticks Together
Regular school glue on popsicle sticks is a joke — everything falls apart the second you try to hang it. These actually bond wood without needing a grown-up and a hot glue gun.
Swap your glue stick for liquid if you want ornaments that survive past December 26th. My son's reindeer from two years ago is still on our tree, held together with this stuff.
Elmer's Liquid School Glue, Washable, Great for Making
For parents who don't trust liquid glue around carpet — these are strong enough for wood but wash out of pajamas, which I can personally confirm after an incident.
Gorilla, Hot Glue Sticks, 8 inch, 25 Count, Dual Temp Clear
Try this when regular school glue keeps sliding off the sticks. It grabs fast enough that my impatient kid doesn't have to hold pieces together for more than ten seconds.
Aleene's Clear Gel Tacky Glue 4 fl oz
Bring this out for the googly eyes and pom-pom noses — it's the only reason those little pieces stayed on instead of rolling across the kitchen floor five minutes later.
Elmer's Craft Bond Tacky Glue 4oz
Googly Eyes That Make the Reindeer Look Hilarious
Honestly the googly eyes are 90% of the charm. My son picks the most ridiculous oversized ones and the ornaments end up looking unhinged, which is exactly the vibe we want.
Peel-and-stick backing means no glue step for the eyes, which cut our craft time in half. For anyone whose kid loses patience after twenty minutes, this is the move.
Creativity Street Peel and Stick Wiggle Eye with Painted
Get the giant value pack because googly eyes disappear into couch cushions, pockets, and the dog's water bowl. Five hundred sounds excessive until you're hunting for two matching ones at 7pm.
Creatology Flat Back Wiggle Eyes Value Pack
Use the big 20mm size if your kid is under four — easier to peel, easier to stick, and the oversized look on a tiny reindeer face is genuinely the funniest thing on our tree.
Darice Wiggle Googly Eyes, 300Pcs Self Adhesive
Snag the assorted pack so your kid can pick mismatched sizes on purpose. My son insists his reindeer have ‘one big eye and one little eye’ and honestly it's become our family's signature style.
Creatology Flat Back Wiggle Eyes Value Pack
Red Pom Poms for the Rudolph Nose
No popsicle stick reindeer is complete without a fuzzy red nose. We tried painting the nose on once and it looked like a crime scene, so pom poms it is forever.
Toss a few of these in front of your kid and watch them debate which one is the ‘perfect Rudolph nose’ for fifteen minutes. Free entertainment while you sip your coffee.
Creatology 1" Pom Poms, 12 Packs: 80 ct. (960 total)
Try the one-inch size for jumbo craft sticks — it's proportionally hilarious and my son says it makes the reindeer look ‘more real,’ which I will not argue with.
Creativity Street Pom Pons, .5", Assorted Glitter Colors 80
Grab the assorted colors if your kid decides mid-craft that not every reindeer is Rudolph. My son made a blue-nosed reindeer last year and named it Kevin. Kevin lives on our tree now.
Horizon Group USA
Use minis on the smaller craft sticks so the nose doesn't overwhelm the whole face. Took me two Decembers to figure out proportion matters even on a kindergartner's art project.
12 Packs: 80 ct. (960 total) 1" Red Pom Poms Value
Brown Paint and Markers for the Reindeer Body
We paint the sticks brown before gluing, which sounds like extra work but it takes three minutes and makes the difference between ‘cute ornament’ and ‘random sticks glued together.’
Use washable paint because your kid WILL wipe their hands on their shirt, the chair, and somehow the ceiling. Ask me how I know. This stuff comes out of everything.
Crayola Washable Kids Paint, 2 oz, Orange
Switch to acrylic if your kid is old enough not to eat paint — the color is richer and it dries in about ten minutes so impatient crafters can move to gluing faster.
Apple Barrel, Acrylic Craft Paint, Nutmeg Brown, 2 fl oz
For the parent who looked at paint and said ‘absolutely not on my kitchen table’ — coloring the sticks with markers works fine and there's zero cleanup. No judgment here.
Crayola Broad Line Markers, 10 Ct Classic Colors
These are a lifesaver for painting small craft sticks without dragging out a whole paint palette. My son holds it like a regular marker and the coverage is surprisingly solid for a pen.
Crayola Washable No Drip Paint Brush Pens, 5 Per Pack
Pipe Cleaners for Antlers That Hold Their Shape
Antlers made from pipe cleaners look way better than trying to cut cardboard into antler shapes with safety scissors. That was a rough first attempt we don't talk about.
Bend these into antler shapes and twist them around the top stick — my six-year-old figured it out on his own, which means your kid probably can too. Satisfying little win.
100 ct. (1200 total) Chenille Pipe Cleaners by Creatology
Get the 12-inch length so you can fold them in half for sturdier antlers. Flimsy single-layer antlers droop after a week on the tree and nobody wants a sad reindeer.
Creativity Street Chenille Stems, Regular
Snag the assorted pack if you want to make other ornaments too — we ended up making candy canes and wreaths with the leftovers and suddenly had a whole handmade tree situation.
XZNGL 100 Pcs 14 Colors Chenille Stems for DIY Crafts
Try the sparkle version for kids who want their reindeer to look fancy. My son called his ‘the Christmas party reindeer’ and honestly the glitter chenille does look weirdly elegant.
24 Packs: 25 ct. (600 total) Sparkle Chenille Pipe Cleaners
Ribbon and String for Hanging Ornaments
First year I forgot to buy ribbon and we used a random shoelace. It worked but looked ridiculous. Now we plan the hanging loop like civilized people.
Pair red ribbon with the brown reindeer and it actually looks like something from a craft fair instead of a kitchen table emergency project. Cuts clean and ties easy.
Offray Ribbon, Red 5/8 inch Grosgrain Polyester
Use jute twine for a rustic farmhouse look that somehow makes a five-year-old's craft project match your grown-up tree theme. My mother-in-law thought I made them. I did not correct her.
Customer reviews for Hyper Tough 800 Feet Jute Twine
Thin green satin loops look surprisingly polished on tiny ornaments. Tie a small bow at the top and suddenly your kid's reindeer is gift-worthy for grandparents.
Offray Ribbon, Green, 5/8 inch Single Face Satin ...
Grab baker's twine if you want that candy-cane stripe look on the hanging loop. My son wraps extra around the antlers too and it gives the whole thing a cozy handmade vibe.
Darice Baker's Twine, 410 ft., Lime/White
Table Protection So Your Kitchen Survives Craft Time
Paint on a wooden kitchen table with a five-year-old and no protection is a choice you only make once. These saved my security deposit and my sanity.
Stick this on your table before craft time and peel it off after — paint, glue, glitter, all of it comes right up. Wish I'd known about this before the brown paint ring incident of 2022.
EasyLiner Adhesive Laminate 12 in. x 10 ft. Shelf Liner, Clear
Tear off a sheet and use it as a disposable craft mat. Way easier than newspaper and thick enough that paint doesn't bleed through to your table. Learned this from my kid's preschool teacher.
Pen+Gear Giant Fingerpaint Paper Pad 16" x 12
Flip a paper plate upside down as a paint palette — your kid dips the brush, paints the stick, and you toss the plate when it's done. Zero paint dishes to wash. You're welcome.
Hefty Everyday Soak Proof Disposable Foam Plates
Keep these within arm's reach because the second you turn around, there's glue on the salt shaker and paint on the dog. Quick wipe and evidence is destroyed before your partner gets home.
Clorox Scentiva Coconut & Waterlily Disinfecting Wipes - 75ct