It’s that time of year again! Santa will be here before you know it and it’s time to start thinking about the Christmas cookies (I think he’d really enjoy these ginger molasses cookies) and milk to leave out for the big guy. But this year take it one step further and leave some reindeer food as well! You could also do a reindeer hunt, but that’s something else entirely. I started making reindeer food with my kids a couple of years ago at our Christmas morning party. I set out a station with a bunch of different things and let the kids put together their own reindeer food mix, kind of like a DIY trail mix, but for reindeer! The kids absolutely loved it, so we’ve done it every year since! This year I thought it would be fun to not only make some with our kids but to also put together little bags to hand out at my son’s classroom Christmas party. It’ll just be in the goodie bags and something fun for the kids to use on Christmas Eve at home! I made four different reindeer food tags that you can download at the bottom of this post, print, and use for your own little reindeer food fun! These would also be really fun to send in a Christmas gift package, to give out with neighbor gifts (if neighbors have kids), or to do as Christmas party favors for people to take as they leave!
Reindeer Food recipe
Before I give you the recipe for what goes in our typical reindeer food, let me be clear – this reindeer food is not for people to eat. It’s not a true recipe, it’s just a mix of things that Santa’s magical reindeer might eat. If you want a reindeer snack that humans can eat, try this reindeer chow. It’s delicious and edible for people! That being said, the recipe for reindeer food can be whatever you want it to be. Think about things that reindeer (or deer) might eat as well as some fun additional things to make it more magical. Here are the things we put in ours to give you some ideas:
Mini marshmallows (you could also do the marshmallow bits I used in my hot chocolate dip)OatsSprinkles Granola Seeds Dried fruits
You’re going to be pouring these out and wasting them, so I recommend sticking with the cheaper of the ingredients as much as possible. Adding some sprinkles and edible glitter makes these a bit more magic, so I always make sure to have those available for kids to add.
How to Make Reindeer Food
Turn this into a fun Christmas activity by letting the kids make their very own reindeer food. Grab some bowls with the ingredients of your choosing (any of the ideas from above) and set them out on a table. Give kids a little bowl or mason jar that they can add their reindeer food to and mix it together. Even if you’re going to put them into bags, I recommend mixing them in a separate container first because the bags are a little harder to mix in. Once it’s all mixed, either close off the jars or pour the jar into a bag and follow the instructions below to finish off the reindeer food bags!
Reindeer Food Tags
One of the most fun parts of reindeer food is the reindeer food poem that goes with it explaining how to use the food. The free printable tags at the bottom of this post have the word Reindeer Food on the front and on the back is this little poem explaining to kids what the reindeer food is for. Sprinkle these treats to light the way for Santa’s reindeer and their magic sleigh The twinkling dust helps Santa know to be sure and visit the house below! All you have to do is put that reindeer food mix in a bag – either a Ziploc bag or a 3×4 inch treat bag like this – then fold the tag over top and staple the sides onto the bag. And voila – you have reindeer food with reindeer food tags on top! Hand them out at parties, give them our as party favors, or just store them until Christmas Eve for your kids to use!
How to Use Reindeer Food
Okay last thing, what do you do with reindeer food? I mean you have this cute bag of food – now what are you supposed to do with it? On Christmas Eve before you go to bed sprinkle the reindeer food outside of your house (since the reindeer don’t come in). I highly recommend doing it on a sidewalk, driveway, or even putting it in a bowl outside your house for the reindeer to enjoy. Cleaning it up out of the grass is not fun. Then when Santa and his reindeer come on Christmas Eve, Santa eats his cookies and the reindeer eat the left out reindeer food. And when I say they eat the reindeer food, I mean you go out and clean it up so it looks like they ate it. That’s why you don’t want to sprinkle it all over your lawn. Sprinkle it somewhere that’s easy to clean up with a broom or your hands. Then when kids wake up in the morning, they’ll see cookies eaten by Santa and reindeer food eaten by Rudolph and company. It’s fun, a little magical, and a great tradition to do year after year!
More Christmas Fun
If you like this reindeer food idea, make sure to check out these other fun Christmas activities for the entire family!
Christmas saran wrap game – wrap up a bunch of random gifts in layers of saran wrap and roll dice to see who can unwrap and win!Follow the star – this Christ centered Christmas activity will become a new tradition in your home, great for bringing Christ back into Christmas. Christmas light hunt – drive through the neighborhoods and see how many of these fun Christmas items you can find!Present pass game – wrap a gift in layers of wrapping paper then pass it around to see who’s the lucky winner at the end!Gift exchange games – plan one of these 12 fun gift games! Lots of great ideas from white elephant gifts to a dice gift exchange!
Download the Reindeer Food Tags
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, click here to get to it. Or if you’d rather not provide your email address, you can buy these in a set with other reindeer gift tags in my shop here. If you do not see the email immediately after you fill out the form, make sure to check your promotions, spam, and junk folders! As a reminder, the 10 page PDF will include:
One page with four different colored designs of a reindeer food tag. One side of the tag will have the reindeer food label and the other will have the reindeer food poem.
