Easy recipe for reindeer mix plus reindeer food labels printable free to put on gift bags. It’s a great holiday craft for preschool and up! How to make Magic reindeer food and FREE Poem Printable bag toppers is also a fun Christmas tradition for kids on the night before Christmas!
Recipe For Reindeer Mix (aka: Reindeer Food)
We make this magic reindeer food recipe (also called magic reindeer dust) every year. It’s so simple, but one of those kids holiday activities / holiday crafts that they’ll look forward to doing!
Easy Recipe for Reindeer Mix:
What do Santa’s reindeer like to eat? Magic edible reindeer food, of course!
It’s really easy to make magic reindeer dust!
What can you put in reindeer food?
- Oats
- Seeds
- Colored sprinkle sugar
- Dried cranberries or raisins
- Poem for reindeer food
- Free printable magic reindeer food printable
You can sprinkle this Christmas reindeer food on your front porch, in your yard, on your balcony, or leave it for Santa to give to his reindeer (if you’re concerned about wildlife eating the food for reindeer).
Don’t miss the poem for reindeer food and reindeer food labels printable free later in the post!
What is reindeer food?
Reindeer food is treat that kids leave out for Santa’s reindeer on Christmas Eve so that reindeer have a treat while helping Santa deliver packages! There are different variations on the magical reindeer dust recipe, but the basics usually include uncooked oatmeal (oats), glitter or sprinkles, and sometimes birdseed and dried fruit.
(If you’re wondering how do you make reindeer food safe, keep reading!)
What do you leave for reindeer?
On Christmas Eve, kids can also leave out other things for Santa’s reindeer!
What do you put out for reindeer?
- Carrots
- Dried fruit
- Water
- A handful of grass or hay
- Apples
- Barley
- Lettuce leaves
- Magic Reindeer Food
How do you make animal safe reindeer food?
How do you make reindeer dust eco friendly?
What do you put in reindeer dust? Besides oats and sugar sprinkles, you can add other items for a more animal safe reindeer food recipe:
- Birdseed
- Nuts
- Dried corn
- Dried cranberries
- Raisins
- Dried Apricots
Is glitter harmful to animals?
Yes, glitter is made from microplastics and are not good for animals or consumption for anyone. (And, is just all around bad for the environment.) That’s why you shouldn’t put glitter in reindeer food.
I’m sad to say that when we first started making this recipe for reindeer food, we used glitter in it. (Cringe.)
One year, it hit me that we needed a more animal safe reindeer food recipe and a reindeer food recipe safe for birds. So, now we make our reindeer food recipe no glitter!
How do you make reindeer food without glitter?
You can easily make reindeer food without glitter by replacing the festive Christmas glitter with red, green, and white edible sanding sugar. If you’re making the reindeer food DIY recipe with cranberries, the sugar sprinkles will also cover the dried fruit and make them very glittery!
Is edible glitter safe for birds?
There’s a lot of discussion on the safety of “edible” glitter, so do some further research on it. Just because it is safe for humans to eat does not mean it is safe for birds. I wouldn’t use it in the reindeer food.
Is the reindeer food recipe safe for birds?
There’s conflicting information on whether or not uncooked oats are good for birds and animals, so please do research if you’re concerned. If you want to play it safe, you can leave the bowl of reindeer food inside with Santa’s cookies and a note to Santa asking him to please feed the magic dust to the reindeer!
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How To Make Popcorn Garland With Cranberries
This would be a fun group or homeschool co-op project: let each kid decorate their own brown bag and then write the magic reindeer dust poem on the back!
Reindeer Food Poem
There are a lot of different reindeer food poems out there for this Christmas craft, but we wrote this one specifically for our free printable reindeer food tag:
Sprinkle on the ground at night
Where magic makes it sparkle bright
Santa’s reindeer will see a treat
And visit for a snack to eat!
You can even make up your own magic reindeer food poem with your kids and make your own reindeer food template (but it’s easier just to print out our reindeer food printable free!).
Let’s get to the recipe for magic reindeer food and reindeer food directions! (The template reindeer food printable is after the how to directions!)
How do you make magic reindeer dust?
There are some other optional ingredients we’ll include in the recipe below.
Place the reindeer dust into a sealable baggie or reusable glass jars and tie on the reindeer food poem or attach it to the bags.
(This holiday craft makes really great Christmas party favors, too!)
Or, you can place it in decorated, recycle brown paper bag like my daughter did one year for our Christmas party and make your own DIY bags for reindeer food! (Better yet, let all the kids at the party decorate their own reindeer food bag!)
Recipe for Reindeer Food
This Santa's reindeer food recipe is more environmentally friendly and animal friendly than the one using glitter! Be sure to print off our free reindeer food label printable for your reindeer mix favor bags!
Materials
- 2 cups uncooked oats
- Edible decorating sugar: white, red, and/or green
- 1/4 cup birdseed mix (optional)
- 1/4 cup dried cranberries (optional)
- 6-8 resealable sandwich bags
- Free reindeer food printable poem (bag topper) --see the post
Tools
- Scissors
- Stapler
Instructions
- Pour uncooked oats into a bowl.
- Add edible sugar to the oats and mix. Add more sugar until you get the desired effect.
- (OPTIONAL) Add birdseed and cranberries. Mix.
- Pour 1/4-1/2 cup of reindeer mix food into 6-8 bags. Seal.
- Cut and fold free printable reindeer food bag topper. (SEE POST FOR PRINTABLE) Staple bag topper over the top of each bag.
- On Christmas Eve, sprinkle reindeer food mix outside or place by Santa's cookies for Santa to feed to his own reindeer!
Don’t forget to grab your reindeer food tag free printable below!
Reindeer Books for Kids
It’s cute how you thought you would get away without us making a children’s book recommendation!
We recommend these books to go with reindeer Christmas crafts for kids:
Now on to the free reindeer food printable!
Santa Reindeer Food Poem Free Printable
Use the free printable reindeer food printable with free printable poem to attach to the top of sealable bags and give away to students, friends, or kids at your holiday party.
CLICK HERE (or on the reindeer food free printable image) to get the free printable magic reindeer food labels!
