One thing I always wanted to do when I had a family was to have holiday traditions. I remember the things we did when I was a child. They are the memory makers. I’ve continued many of them but also added in some new easy traditions like making this magicReindeer Food Recipe together each year.
It’s a very simple recipe to make and there are a ton of fun ways to make it even more festive. Check out the recipe below and the fun ornament we made this year!
REINDEER FOOD RECIPE
As I mentioned before, this is a super easy recipe to make so it makes a great holiday tradition to do with your kids, especially when they’re younger.
If your neighborhood is one that likes to do things together, making reindeer feed (sometimes come reindeer dust or reindeer mix) is a great thing to do together. Then you can hand it out to all the neighbor kids.
You can put this recipe together in almost any way you can dream up. You can put it in little buckets, zipper bags with a cute tag, or use plastic ornaments like we did this time!
REINDEER FOOD POEM
Print or write out a little tag with this fun poem on it and you have a really easy gift idea that the kids can help make!
Sprinkle on your lawn at night.
The moon will make it sparkle bright.
As Santa’s reindeer fly and roam,
This will guide them to your home.
You can click below to download our poem card (business card sized). Attach them to your reindeer chow recipe and start handing out your gifts!
HOW TO MAKE REINDEER FOOD
I’ve mentioned how easy it is to make this crafty little recipe. You might have most of the materials and ingredients you need. This is also a great activity to do at a holiday theme party or playdate.
Please note my warnings about whether or not you should use glitter or sugar sprinkles. It all depends on how you plan to use your magic reindeer food!
INGREDIENTS & MATERIALS
- Large Clear Plastic Ornament (you can find these at most local dollar stores and craft stores) – Amazon has some fun disc-shaped ones that we like to use. Click to order using our affiliate link. CLICK HERE TO ORDER ORNAMENTS.
- Oats (you can also use bird seed as well to make it even more animal friendly!)
- Red Glitter (if you’re actually going to sprinkle this outside where there are a lot of animals, consider using red sugar sprinkles because glitter is not edible!)
- Green Glitter (or green sugar sprinkles to make it completely edible!)
- Red Sprinkles
- Gift Tag
- Twine or Ribbon
- Red Puffy Paint
- Permanent Marker
- Funnel
Plastic Ball Ornaments
Holiday Sugars Medley
Kraft Gift Tags
Red Puffy Paint
REINDEER MIX STEPS
There are two different types of ornaments you might find yourself using for your Reindeer Food recipe. I recommended some disc-shaped ones above where you need to use a funnel to add your ingredients layer by layer through the small opening in the top.
The other time of clear plastic ornament opens in the middle so you have two sides. This one is often a bit easier for younger hands to work with. The steps are just a bit different and I’ve included directions for both.
1. Start by either removing the top of the ornament and placing the funnel in the opening. Or open the two sides of your ornament and lay them side by side.
FOR ORNAMENTS WITH THE OPENING AT THE TOP
2. If you’re using an ornament with the opening at the top, fill your ornament about 1/3 of the way full with the oats.
3. Then add the glitter or sugar sprinkles (you can layer the red and green or you can mix it all together). This should fill your ornament up another 1/3 of the way.
4. Add red sprinkles to your ornament until it is filled. Remove the funnel and replace the top of the ornament.
FOR ORNAMENTS THAT OPEN IN THE MIDDLE
For these ornaments, you’re going to get a bit more of a mixed look but it’s still the same magical reindeer mix! If you make your reindeer food in plastic bags, this is the look you’ll end up with as well. It works no matter how you make it!
This ornament won’t appear as full as the other type of ornament, but that actually makes it great for younger kids who might not need as much reindeer dust to sprinkle!
2. One one side of the ornament, fill it about 1/3 of the way full with oats.
3. Then layer the red and green glitter or sugar crystal sprinkles.
4. Top that layer with your red sprinkles until that side of the ornament is full. Place the empty side on top of the one with all of the ingredients and close it tightly.
6. Use a black marker or a silver paint pen to write a message on the gift tag. This is the way to keep it really simple! Something like “Shake and Feed” works perfectly.
7. Then use the red puffy paint to make a round reindeer nose near the top of the tag. Draw antlers using the marker.
8. Use twine or ribbon to attach the gift tag to the top of the ornament.
The fun thing about making reindeer food ornaments is that you can hang them on the tree until you’re ready to give them away!
On Christmas Eve, have your kids shake the reindeer mix out of the ornaments and onto the front yard to feed the reindeer. If you don’t have a yard, you can always leave the feed out for Santa to take with him.
Remember if you are planning to sprinkle your Reindeer chow outside, please use the animal-friendly recipe and make it with sugar crystal sprinkles!
