One of my favorite parts of owning this website is my readers and when readers send me emails with their favorite games and traditions they do with their own families. This particular idea, actually the turkey hunt version of it, was sent in by one of my readers before Thanksgiving, and I love it so much I’ve turned it into a reindeer hunt too! There are three different variations of the game depending on what age is playing, but they can really all three be fun for all ages if you just hide the reindeer appropriately! Do this for one of your next Christmas party games, add it to your Christmas activities list, or even just do it with your family to get in the Christmas season! It’s festive, super easy to setup, and a great way to have a little Christmas fun.
Supplies
All three variations of the reindeer hunt use the same things and all things you likely have at home, other than maybe a non-printable reindeer (optional). Here’s all you’ll need:
Reindeer hunt printables (download at the end of this post or get a copy in my shop here) Scissors to cut out the reindeerTape to tape/hide the reindeerPens/Pencils (optional)Prizes (optional)Reindeer hunt printables (download at the end of this post or get a copy in my shop here) Scissors to cut out the reindeerTape to tape/hide the reindeerPens/Pencils (optional)Prizes (optional)
For the third game idea, you can also grab an actual reindeer of some sort like a cute stuffed reindeer or a ceramic reindeer you might have for your Christmas decorations. They’re a bit more fun to hide for that version of the game!
Reindeer Hunt 1: Find Every Reindeer
Okay so the first variation of this game is definitely the easiest and best for if you have a group of just kids looking for Christmas games. The downloadable game file comes with the reindeer hunt sheet you see above with nine reindeer AND it comes with a half sheet version of each of those reindeer as well. For this first game, hide the half sheet version of each of those reindeer somewhere inside, outside, or wherever you are hosting your hunt. Hide them based on who will be finding them – for younger kids hide them easier and for older kids, a little more difficult. Just like if you were hiding eggs for one these Easter egg hunts. Once the reindeer are all hidden, give each person playing a reindeer hunt card. They then have to go search for each of those hidden reindeer on the hunt. Each reindeer is a little different so it should be easy to mark off the ones they find as they go, kind of like if you were doing this Christmas lights scavenger hunt! When they’ve found all the reindeer, they can come back to claim a fun Christmas or reindeer themed prize (ideas at the bottom of this post!). Or you can skip the prize and just make it something fun to do! Difficulty: This is definitely the easiest of the options, although you can make it more difficult simply by hiding the reindeer in more difficult locations as I mentioned before. Best For: This works best with a small group of kids, like I would do this with my two boys as just one our Christmas activities. You could also do it with a big group but I’ve found with big groups, one person tends to find a reindeer and people just follow them around. If you do have a bigger group, I recommend the next option.
Reindeer Hunt 2: Find Just One Reindeer
Okay so for this one, you will need prizes. Or at least I really recommend prizes since that’s kind of the incentive to find the reindeer.
In this game you’re going to hide the reindeer cards just like in the first one, but you can use the small cards and hide them in more challenging locations to find than in the first version.
Still base your hiding places on who is searching for the cards but they’ll only need to find one, not all of them. If you’re doing this with a large group of people of varied ages, you could always hide big ones for the littler kids and small reindeer cards for the older participants.
You need to hide one reindeer per person playing if you want everyone to find a reindeer to trade in for a prize. If you’re playing with older teens/adults, you could just make it one per every couple people playing and not everyone finds one.
If you have more than nine people playing, just print out two of the reindeer hunt sheets – the designs and accessories don’t matter for this game.
Hide all of the reindeer without making it obvious that you’re hiding them (so people don’t watch). Then you can either send everyone on a reindeer hunt all at once or you can just tell people as they come in the door to be on the lookout for reindeer throughout the event.
Once someone finds a reindeer they should stop looking so that others can still have fun. They bring it back and can turn it in for a prize. They’re then out of the game and can just enjoy the rest of their time.
Keep playing until either everyone has either found a reindeer or all of the reindeer you hid have been found.
Difficulty: This can be easy or difficult as you want depending on how hard you hide the cards. If you have a mixed group, you could also split your space into sections so you can hide easier cards in one room for younger kids and hide more difficult cards in another room for teens. Or do the big vs. small cards like I mentioned before.
Best For: This works great for any size group. Just use my tip for adding numbers to the cards when you’re playing with larger groups to keep track of the ones you’ve found.
Reindeer Hunt 3: Find Reindeer All Day Long
This version of the game is the one that my reader actually sent to me, and it’s probably my favorite of the three! In this version of the reindeer hunt, you can either use one of the cards OR you can get an actual reindeer object of some kind. I included a few options in the supplies above for reindeer or you can really use whatever you want! You’ll also need at least one prize but ideally multiple prizes, kind of like if you were playing Christmas bingo. For this game, you start by hiding the reindeer somewhere without telling anyone you’re hiding it. You can do this before your event or during it as long as you’re not conspicuous. I recommend taking a picture of the reindeer before hiding it so that when you’re ready to play, you can show the group what they will be looking for. You want them to know what they’re looking for so they don’t bring back anything with a reindeer on it. This isn’t a quick go out and hunt really fast game, this is an all-day, keep an eye out for the reindeer type hunt. When you’re ready to get started, xxplain to everyone (and show them the picture) that you’ve hidden a reindeer. If they find it during the course of the day, they bring it back and can choose a prize. Then this is where it gets fun – after they choose their prize, they go and hide the reindeer instead of you. When someone else finds it at some point, they’ll pick a prize as well then THEY HIDE THE REINDEER. You can either let people find the reindeer various times (I’d make them small prizes and still put a limit on it) or just let them find and hide it once so that everyone gets a turn. That’s up to you and your group since you know them best. Keep playing until all of the prizes have been claimed or until your event is over. Difficulty: The difficulty of this version is completely dependent on who is hiding the reindeer. It could be easy, could be tough! But this version is definitely my favorite for playing with all ages! Best For: This game is great for any size group and is a good one to just play all day long rather than an organized hunt.
Reindeer Prize Options
Any of these would make fun prize options for any of the reindeer hunt versions I outlined above! Or really anything reindeer related would be fun!
Reindeer candy cane favorsReindeer OreosReindeer headbandsReindeer bagsReindeer scarfReindeer socksReindeer farts (kids will love these!)
More Active Christmas Games
Christmas scavenger huntChristmas lights scavenger huntChristmas charadesChristmas name that tuneChristmas minute to win it games
Download the Printable
Enter your first name and email address in the form below to get the printable PDF. You will receive a link to download the PDF to your email within minutes. If you do not see the form below, click here to get to it. If you would rather not fill out the form, you can get a copy in my shop here. The PDF will include:
Instructions One full page with nine small reindeerHalf-sheet cards of each of the nine reindeer
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