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Family Holiday Tradition Idea: Magic Reindeer Food Ingredients and Instructions

When my oldest daughter was in 2nd grade, her school PTO sponsored a Holiday Craft Fair and opened it for the students to come in on a Saturday morning and visit various craft stations to make holiday craft gifts for family and friends.  It was a wonderful event!  She came home with ornaments for the grandparents, a snow globe for a friend, a wreath for the front door and a bag of Magic Reindeer Food. 

While I had never seen Magic Reindeer Food at that point--the concept of sprinkling "reindeer food" out on the lawn to draw in Santa's Reindeer on Christmas Eve was a huge hit.  In fact--that adorable bag of Magic Reindeer Food has been recreated every holiday season for over 15 years.    Looking for a fun, Christmas Eve tradition for the family?  Sprinkling Magic Reindeer Food may be just the thing!  Here is our "recipe" for this popular, holiday activity.

What Supplies do you Need to Make Magic Reindeer Food?


1/4 c. Colored Food Sugars (We like Blue Wilton Sugar and Silver Pearlized Sugar because they show up fairly well in the moonlight even if there isn't a snow covered lawn!)

1 Medium Red PomPom

1 Printed Magic Reindeer Poem, Cut Out (From Below)
2 Reindeer Antlers (Printed and Cut out from The Template Below)

Tape (Optional)

Instructions for Creating a Magic Reindeer Food Bag for the Holidays 

Gather the "Ingredients".   
Gather the supplies to make the Magic Reindeer Food Bag above.
Print out the Magic Reindeer Food Poem by downloading the photo below.


Print out the Reindeer Antler Template and Cut out the Antlers or draw your own template freehand.


Begin to Build the Bag.  I like to make the reindeer face shape first so that I can glue the poem onto the back in an appropriate spot!  To make the "face"--fold the top of the bag down toward the center on each side to make the sides meet in the middle with small triangles to create a point in the top center.  Move about 1 1/2 below that triangle and crease the top of the bag straight across to fold down.   

Attach the Poem onto the Back of the Reindeer Food Bag.  Move down about an inch from the created fold and glue the printed poem onto the bag.

Add the "Reindeer Food" to the Bag.  Dump the oats and the colored sugars into the bottom of the bag.

Create the Reindeer Face and Attach the Antlers.  Glue down the flaps created by the triangles on the top of the bag to finish sealing the bag.  Attach the two googly eyes and the nose to appropriate spots on the face.  Attach the antlers to the back of the bag with a few glue dots as desired.  If you prefer, you may certainly attach craft or popsicle sticks to the backs of the antlers so that they stay upright--or cut them from sturdy card stock.  I have found that my girls are far more concerned with the "food" inside the bag than with the floppy antlers--and I generally present the Reindeer food bag laying flat in an early holiday present!

Plan to Feed the Reindeer on Christmas Eve.  There is just something about going outside on Christmas Eve (especially if it's snowing), in your pajamas, to "feed Santa's Reindeer".   Plan to head out (in whatever weather) to toss this reindeer food out onto the lawn and look at the sky for signs of Santa!  (And...plan to do it even when the kids are far beyond the Santa years because it brings wonderful memories and a feeling of wonder!)

Why do I love this activity?  It gets the kids outside, it gets their imagination stirring--and it reminds the older kids of those early holiday memories.  It just brings the magic back to Christmas!  Plus, the oatmeal and sugar crystals won't harm the local wildlife who may actually seek out the morsels for food on Christmas Eve! 

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